Using Formative Research to Design a Behavior Change Strategy to Increase the Use of Improved Cookstoves in Peri-Urban Kampala, Uganda

Household air pollution from cooking with biomass fuels negatively impacts maternal and child health and the environment, and contributes to the global burden of disease. In Uganda, nearly 20,000 young children die of household air pollution-related pneumonia every year. Qualitative research was used to identify behavioral determinants related to the acquisition and use of improved cookstoves in peri-urban Uganda. Results were used to design a behavior change strategy for the introduction of a locally-fabricated top-lit updraft gasifier (TLUD) stove in Wakiso district. A theoretical framework—opportunity, ability, and motivation—was used to guide the research and behavior change strategy development. Participants consistently cited financial considerations as the most influential factor related to improved cookstove acquisition and use. In contrast, participants did not prioritize the potential health benefits of improved cookstoves. The theoretical framework, research methodology, and behavior change strategy design process can be useful for program planners and researchers interested in identifying behavioral determinants and designing and evaluating improved cookstove interventions

Scoping study for research into the prevalence of child abuse in Australia: Final report. Prepared for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (the Royal Commission) is inquiring into how institutions have engaged with and responded to allegations and instances of institutional child sexual abuse. Key to this inquiry is the need to generate an understanding of the extent of child sexual abuse in Australia. Determining the prevalence of child sexual abuse, and institutional child sexual abuse in particular, provides valuable contextual information to inform the work of the Royal Commission. While thousands of people have come forward to testify in private and public sessions, it is not known whether these victims/survivors are representative of the population of victims of child abuse, how the prevalence and type of abuse has changed over the decades, or what effect past policies have had in addressing these issues. In response to this gap in the knowledge base, the Royal Commission appointed a team of researchers to scope the research design, methodology, cost and governance structure of two studies investigating the prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia, including the prevalence of institutional child sexual abuse. The first study would estimate the prevalence of child maltreatment in a representative sample of Australian adults, while the second study would estimate the prevalence among Australian young people