Quality of reproductive health services in Bolivian public sector health facilities: Results of a baseline study


Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

3246.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - Board 9

Abstract #116283

Rachel Goldberg, MPH¹, Rosemary Duran, MD², Javier Monterrey Arce, MPP², Maria Lorencikova, MD², Hannah Searing, MA, MHS¹, Ines Escandon, MPH¹, and Rose Donna, MIT³. (1) EngenderHealth, 440 Ninth Avenue, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10001, 212-561-8079, rgoldberg@engenderhealth.org, (2) Bolivia, EngenderHealth, Calle Fernando Guachalla No. 342, Edificio VICTOR, Piso 4, La Paz, Bolivia, (3) SATELLIFE, 30 California Street, Watertown, MA 02472

The ACQUIRE Project, a USAID-funded RH/FP clinical services project, is conducting baseline and endline surveys in selected countries to measure its impact.

The key question for the Bolivia evaluation is: How and to what extent have ACQUIRE interventions affected access to quality services? Sub-questions include: · How have client perceptions of the quality of services changed? · How have providers benefited from ACQUIRE interventions? · How have facility-level “systems” changed?

The study utilizes four structured questionnaires (facility audit, provider interview, client interview, observation) adapted to the Bolivia program context from MEASURE's QIQ tools. The widest in scope of the ACQUIRE evaluations, it encompasses the technical areas of maternal health, family planning, STI/HIV/AIDS, SRH services for men, and post-abortion care. Cross-cutting areas also include counseling, infection prevention, and intercultural communication.

A quasi-experimental pre-/post-test design will be used. A representative sample is being developed to allow generalization to all ACQUIRE-supported sites, from primary-level health posts to tertiary hospitals. Data will be collected during April 2005.

Data for a selected number of facility audits will be collected with handheld computers (PDAs), with the help of SATELLIFE, an ACQUIRE partner. This new data collection method will be evaluated to measure its effect on survey implementation, data entry/analysis, and dissemination.

Preliminary baseline results will be available in July 2005, and will be used in a participatory performance needs assessment in Bolivia. Additionally, ACQUIRE will conduct dissemination meetings to ensure that local partners can use the data for programming. Results will be finalized by September 2005.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

· Describe a model for implementing rapid program-level evaluations at the facility level combined with participatory planning processes.
· Understand the costs and benefits of using hand-held computers for survey data collection in resource-poor settings.
· Develop a plan for using evaluation data to inform program strategy.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Monitoring and Evaluation: Improving Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA