Maximizing community participation and engagement: lessons learned over 2 decades of field trials in rural Ghana

BACKGROUND: Successful implementation of community-based research is dominantly influenced by participation and engagement from the local community without which community members will not want to participate in research and important knowledge and potential health benefits will be missed. Therefore, maximising community participation and engagement is key for the effective conduct of community-based research. In this paper, we present lessons learnt over two decades of conducting research in 7 rural districts in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana with an estimated population of around 600,000. The trials which were mainly in the area of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health were conducted by the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). METHODS: The four core strategies which were used were formative research methods, the formation of the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) team to serve as the main link between the research team and the community, recruitment of field workers from the communities within which they lived, and close collaboration with national and regional stakeholders. RESULTS: These measures allowed trust to be built between the community members and the research team and ensured that potential misconceptions which came up in the communities were promptly dealt with through the IEC team. The decision to place field workers in the communities from which they came and their knowledge of the local language created trust between the research team and the community. The close working relationship between the District health authorities and the Kintampo Health Research Centre supported the acceptance of the research in the communities as the District Health Authorities were respected and trusted. CONCLUSION: The successes achieved during the past 2 decades of collaboration between LSHTM and KHRC in conducting community-based field trials were based on involving the community in research projects. Community participation and engagement helped not only to identify the pertinent issues, but also enabled the communities and research team to contribute towards efforts to address challenges

NEWHINTS cluster randomised trial to evaluate the impact on neonatal mortality in rural Ghana of routine home visits to provide a package of essential newborn care interventions in the third trimester of pregnancy and the first week of life: trial protocol

BACKGROUND: Tackling neonatal mortality is essential for the achievement of the child survival millennium development goal. There are just under 4 million neonatal deaths, accounting for 38% of the 10.8 million deaths among children younger than 5 years of age taking place each year; 99% of these occur in low- and middle-income countries where a large proportion of births take place at home, and where postnatal care for mothers and neonates is either not available or is of poor quality. WHO and UNICEF have issued a joint statement calling for governments to implement "Home visits for the newborn child: a strategy to improve survival", following several studies in South Asia which achieved substantial reductions in neonatal mortality through community-based approaches. However, their feasibility and effectiveness have not yet been evaluated in Africa. The Newhints study aims to do this in Ghana and to develop a feasible and sustainable community-based approach to improve newborn care practices, and by so doing improve neonatal survival. METHODS: Newhints is an integrated intervention package based on extensive formative research, and developed in close collaboration with seven District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) in Brong Ahafo Region. The core component is training the existing community based surveillance volunteers (CBSVs) to identify pregnant women and to conduct two home visits during pregnancy and three in the first week of life to address essential care practices, and to assess and refer very low birth weight and sick babies. CBSVs are supported by a set of materials, regular supervisory visits, incentives, sensitisation activities with TBAs, health facility staff and communities, and providing training for essential newborn care in health facilities.Newhints is being evaluated through a cluster randomised controlled trial, and intention to treat analyses. The clusters are 98 supervisory zones; 49 have been randomised for implementation of the Newhints intervention, with the other 49 acting as controls. Data on neonatal mortality and care practices will be collected from approximately 15,000 babies through surveillance of women of child-bearing age in the 7 districts. Detailed process, cost and cost-effectiveness evaluations are also being carried out. TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (identifier NCT00623337)

Improving community health worker treatment for malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia in Uganda through inSCALE community and mHealth innovations: A cluster randomised controlled trial

The inSCALE cluster randomised controlled trial in Uganda evaluated two interventions, mHealth and Village Health Clubs (VHCs) which aimed to improve Community Health Worker (CHW) treatment for malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia within the national Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) programme. The interventions were compared with standard care in a control arm. In a cluster randomised trial, 39 sub-counties in Midwest Uganda, covering 3167 CHWs, were randomly allocated to mHealth; VHC or usual care (control) arms. Household surveys captured parent-reported child illness, care seeking and treatment practices. Intention-to-treat analysis estimated the proportion of appropriately treated children with malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia according to WHO informed national guidelines. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01972321). Between April-June 2014, 7679 households were surveyed; 2806 children were found with malaria, diarrhoea, or pneumonia symptoms in the last one month. Appropriate treatment was 11% higher in the mHealth compared to the control arm (risk ratio [RR] 1.11, 95% CI 1.02, 1.21; p = 0.018). The largest effect was on appropriate treatment for diarrhoea (RR 1.39; 95% CI 0.90, 2.15; p = 0.134). The VHC intervention increased appropriate treatment by 9% (RR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01, 1.18; p = 0.059), again with largest effect on treatment of diarrhoea (RR 1.56, 95% CI 1.04, 2.34, p = 0.030). CHWs provided the highest levels of appropriate treatment compared to other providers. However, improvements in appropriate treatment were observed at health facilities and pharmacies, with CHW appropriate treatment the same across the arms. The rate of CHW attrition in both intervention arms was less than half that of the control arm; adjusted risk difference mHealth arm -4.42% (95% CI -8.54, -0.29, p = 0.037) and VHC arm -4.75% (95% CI -8.74, -0.76, p = 0.021). Appropriate treatment by CHWs was encouragingly high across arms. The inSCALE mHealth and VHC interventions have the potential to reduce CHW attrition and improve the care quality for sick children, but not through improved CHW management as we had hypothesised. Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01972321)

Improving outcomes for children with malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Mozambique: A cluster randomised controlled trial of the inSCALE technology innovation

BACKGROUND: The majority of post-neonatal deaths in children under 5 are due to malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia (MDP). The WHO recommends integrated community case management (iCCM) of these conditions using community-based health workers (CHW). However iCCM programmes have suffered from poor implementation and mixed outcomes. We designed and evaluated a technology-based (mHealth) intervention package 'inSCALE' (Innovations At Scale For Community Access and Lasting Effects) to support iCCM programmes and increase appropriate treatment coverage for children with MDP. METHODS: This superiority cluster randomised controlled trial allocated all 12 districts in Inhambane Province in Mozambique to receive iCCM only (control) or iCCM plus the inSCALE technology intervention. Population cross-sectional surveys were conducted at baseline and after 18 months of intervention implementation in approximately 500 eligible households in randomly selected communities in all districts including at least one child less than 60 months of age where the main caregiver was available to assess the impact of the intervention on the primary outcome, the coverage of appropriate treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in children 2-59months of age. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of sick children who were taken to the CHW for treatment, validated tool-based CHW motivation and performance scores, prevalence of cases of illness, and a range of secondary household and health worker level outcomes. All statistical models accounted for the clustered study design and variables used to constrain the randomisation. A meta-analysis of the estimated pooled impact of the technology intervention was conducted including results from a sister trial (inSCALE-Uganda). FINDINGS: The study included 2740 eligible children in control arm districts and 2863 children in intervention districts. After 18 months of intervention implementation 68% (69/101) CHWs still had a working inSCALE smartphone and app and 45% (44/101) had uploaded at least one report to their supervising health facility in the last 4 weeks. Coverage of the appropriate treatment of cases of MDP increased by 26% in the intervention arm (adjusted RR 1.26 95% CI 1.12-1.42, p<0.001). The rate of care seeking to the iCCM-trained community health worker increased in the intervention arm (14.4% vs 15.9% in control and intervention arms respectively) but fell short of the significance threshold (adjusted RR 1.63, 95% CI 0.93-2.85, p = 0.085). The prevalence of cases of MDP was 53.5% (1467) and 43.7% (1251) in the control and intervention arms respectively (risk ratio 0.82, 95% CI 0.78-0.87, p<0.001). CHW motivation and knowledge scores did not differ between intervention arms. Across two country trials, the estimated pooled effect of the inSCALE intervention on coverage of appropriate treatment for MDP was RR 1.15 (95% CI 1.08-1.24, p <0.001). INTERPRETATION: The inSCALE intervention led to an improvement in appropriate treatment of common childhood illnesses when delivered at scale in Mozambique. The programme will be rolled out by the ministry of health to the entire national CHW and primary care network in 2022-2023. This study highlights the potential value of a technology intervention aimed at strengthening iCCM systems to address the largest causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

Variation in the quality and out-of-pocket cost of treatment for childhood malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia: Community and facility based care in rural Uganda.

BACKGROUND: A key barrier to appropriate treatment for malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia (MDP) in children under 5 years of age in low income rural settings is the lack of access to quality health care. The WHO and UNICEF have therefore called for the scale-up of integrated community case management (iCCM) using community health workers (CHWs). The current study assessed access to treatment, out-of-pocket expenditure and the quality of treatment provided in the public and private sectors compared to national guidelines, using data collected in a large representative survey of caregivers of children in 205 villages with iCCM-trained CHWs in mid-Western Uganda. RESULTS: The prevalence of suspected malaria, diarrhoea and suspected pneumonia in the preceding two weeks in 6501 children in the study sample were 45%, 11% and 24% respectively. Twenty percent of children were first taken to a CHW, 56% to a health facility, 14% to other providers and no care was sought for 11%. The CHW was more likely to provide appropriate treatment compared to any other provider or to those not seeking care for children with MDP (RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.42-1.61, p<0.001). Seeking care from a CHW had the lowest cost outlay (median $0.00, IQR$0.00-$1.80), whilst seeking care to a private doctor or clinic the highest (median$2.80, IQR $1.20-$6.00). We modelled the expected increase in overall treatment coverage if children currently treated in the private sector or not seeking care were taken to the CHW instead. In this scenario, coverage of appropriate treatment for MDP could increase in total from the current rate of 47% up to 64%. CONCLUSION: Scale-up of iCCM-trained CHW programmes is key to the provision of affordable, high quality treatment for sick children, and can thus significantly contribute to closing the gap in coverage of appropriate treatment

Perceptions of, attitudes towards and barriers to male involvement in newborn care in rural Ghana, West Africa: a qualitative analysis.

BACKGROUND: Male involvement in various health practices is recognized as an important factor in improving maternal and child health outcomes. Male involvement interventions involve men in a variety of ways, at varying levels of inclusion and use a range of outcome measures. There is little agreement on how male involvement should be measured and some authors contend that male involvement may actually be detrimental to women's empowerment and autonomy. Few studies explore the realities, perceptions, determinants and efficacy of male involvement in newborn care, especially in African contexts. METHODS: Birth narratives of recent mothers (n = 25), in-depth interviews with recent fathers (n = 12) and two focus group discussions with fathers (n = 22) were conducted during the formative research phase of a community-based newborn care trial. Secondary analysis of this qualitative data identified emergent themes and established overall associations related to male involvement, newborn care and household roles in a rural African setting. RESULTS: Data revealed that gender dictates many of the perceptions and politics surrounding newborn care in this context. The influence of mother-in-laws and generational power dynamics were also identified as significant. Women alone perform almost all tasks related to newborn care whereas men take on the traditional responsibilities of economic providers and decision makers, especially concerning their wives' and children's health. Most men were interested in being more involved in newborn care but identified barriers to increased involvement, many of which related to gendered and generational divisions of labour and space. CONCLUSIONS: Men defined involvement in a variety of ways, even if they were not physically involved in carrying out newborn care tasks. Some participant comments revealed potential risks of increasing male involvement suggesting that male involvement alone should not be an outcome in future interventions. Rather, the effect of male involvement on women's autonomy, the dynamics of senior women's influence and power and the real impact on health outcomes should be considered in intervention design and implementation. Any male involvement intervention should integrate a detailed understanding of context and strategies to include men in maternal and child health should be mutually empowering for both women and men

Innovating care through technology and education. An ethnographic view on care education in transition: 25-01-2021

In the project “Fieldlabs, 21st Century community care”, directed by ROC of Amsterdam, 17 partners in care, education, local authorities, technology providers and research institutes collaborate in the Amsterdam region. Fieldlabs aims to innovate education in care, in order to make it ‘21st century proof’. A major ingredient in this innovation process is care technology. In different subprojects, experiments are undertaken in which for example nursing students are testing different technologies to improve quality of life for residents of in a nursing home. One way to see if the project has the desired effect, is user research. We are therefore aiming to answer these questions: What experiences do the various users of the field labs have and how do these experiences relate to the objectives of the main project

Performance indicators used to assess the quality of primary dental care

An appropriate quality of medical care including dental care should be an objective of every government that aims to improve the oral health of its population. OBJECTIVES: To determine performance indicators that could be used to assess the quality of primary dental care at different levels of a health care system, the sources for data collection and finally, the dimensions of quality measured by these indicators. METHOD: An explorative study of the international literature was conducted using medical databases, journals and books, and official websites of organisations and associations. RESULTS: This resulted in a set of 57 indicators, which were classified into the following dimensions for each intended user group: For patients: health outcomes and subjective indicators; for professionals: their performance and the rates of success, failure and complications; for health care system managers and policymakers: their resources, finances and health care utilisation. CONCLUSION: A set of 57 performance indicators were identified to assess the quality of primary dental care at the levels of patients, professionals and the health care system. These indicators could be used by managers and decision-makers at any level of the health care system according to the characteristics of the service

Maximizing community participation and engagement: lessons learned over 2 decades of field trials in rural Ghana

Background: Successful implementation of community-based research is dominantly influenced by participation and engagement from the local community without which community members will not want to participate in research and important knowledge and potential health benefits will be missed. Therefore, maximising community participation and engagement is key for the effective conduct of community-based research. In this paper, we present lessons learnt over two decades of conducting research in 7 rural districts in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana with an estimated population of around 600,000. The trials which were mainly in the area of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health were conducted by the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Methods: The four core strategies which were used were formative research methods, the formation of the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) team to serve as the main link between the research team and the community, recruitment of field workers from the communities within which they lived, and close collaboration with national and regional stakeholders. Results: These measures allowed trust to be built between the community members and the research team and ensured that potential misconceptions which came up in the communities were promptly dealt with through the IEC team. The decision to place field workers in the communities from which they came and their knowledge of the local language created trust between the research team and the community. The close working relationship between the District health authorities and the Kintampo Health Research Centre supported the acceptance of the research in the communities as the District Health Authorities were respected and trusted. Conclusion: The successes achieved during the past 2 decades of collaboration between LSHTM and KHRC in conducting community-based field trials were based on involving the community in research projects. Community participation and engagement helped not only to identify the pertinent issues, but also enabled the communities and research team to contribute towards efforts to address challenges

Effect of vitamin A supplementation in women of reproductive age on maternal survival in Ghana (ObaapaVitA): a cluster-randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: A previous trial in Nepal showed that supplementation with vitamin A or its precursor (betacarotene) in women of reproductive age reduced pregnancy-related mortality by 44% (95% CI 16-63). We assessed the effect of vitamin A supplementation in women in Ghana. METHODS: ObaapaVitA was a cluster-randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial undertaken in seven districts in Brong Ahafo Region in Ghana. The trial area was divided into 1086 small geographical clusters of compounds with fieldwork areas consisting of four contiguous clusters. All women of reproductive age (15-45 years) who gave informed consent and who planned to remain in the area for at least 3 months were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned by cluster of residence to receive a vitamin A supplement (25 000 IU retinol equivalents) or placebo capsule orally once every week. Randomisation was blocked and based on an independent, computer-generated list of numbers, with two clusters in each fieldwork area allocated to vitamin A supplementation and two to placebo. Capsules were distributed during home visits undertaken every 4 weeks, when data were gathered on pregnancies, births, and deaths. Primary outcomes were pregnancy-related mortality and all-cause female mortality. Cause of death was established by verbal post mortems. Analysis was by intention to treat (ITT) with random-effects regression to account for the cluster-randomised design. Adverse events were synonymous with the trial outcomes. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00211341. FINDINGS: 544 clusters (104 484 women) were randomly assigned to vitamin A supplementation and 542 clusters (103 297 women) were assigned to placebo. The main reason for participant drop out was migration out of the study area. In the ITT analysis, there were 39 601 pregnancies and 138 pregnancy-related deaths in the vitamin A supplementation group (348 deaths per 100 000 pregnancies) compared with 39 234 pregnancies and 148 pregnancy-related deaths in the placebo group (377 per 100 000 pregnancies); adjusted odds ratio 0.92, 95% CI 0.73-1.17; p=0.51. 1326 women died in 292 560 woman-years in the vitamin A supplementation group (453 deaths per 100 000 years) compared with 1298 deaths in 289 310 woman-years in the placebo group (449 per 100 000 years); adjusted rate ratio 1.01, 0.93-1.09; p=0.85. INTERPRETATION: The body of evidence, although limited, does not support inclusion of vitamin A supplementation for women in either safe motherhood or child survival strategies. FUNDING: UK Department for International Development, and USAID