USE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN DEVELOPING POST-DISASTER ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Abstract. The Philippines frequently experiences natural calamities such as the typhoon that wreaked havoc at the end of 2004 in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora. The typhoon damaged these provinces extensively, destroying many of the homes and facilities, paralyzing the daily lives of community members, and causing an alarming number of deaths in the community. This article describes the development of the methodology and tools for conducting an assessment of the health situation of the affected municipalities of the 2004 REINA flooding. The research group first underwent pre-deployment trainings followed by correspondence with the affected barangays (villages) to ensure social preparation of the community. Intensive data collection was subsequently done using the developed tools, specifically, focused group discussions, key informant interviews, review of records, and ocular documentation. Recommendations on the post disaster health care delivery system rehabilitation plans for the provinces were formulated together with the community. The results and recommendations were subjected to feedback and evaluation to ensure accuracy and acceptability to the community. direction that this health assessment project and planning was done. This project aims to develop and evaluate the methodology and tools for conducting the assessment of the health situation of the most affected municipalities of the 2004 Philippines Floods. These tools can be used by the local and national government as a guide in their recovery program and in seeking financial support in the accomplishments of their plans. MATERIALS AND METHODS Development of tools The following tools were developed: 1) review of records; 2) key-informant interviews; 3) focus-group discussions (FGDs); 4) ocular inspection checklists and 5) documen

Fostering social innovation and building adaptive capacity for dengue control in Cambodia: a case study

Background: The social-ecological systems theory, with its unique conception of resilience (social-ecological systems & resilience, SESR), provides an operational framework that currently best meets the need for integration and adaptive governance as encouraged by the Sustainable Development Goals. SESR accounts for the complex dynamics of social-ecological systems and operationalizes transdisciplinarity by focusing on community engagement, value co-creation, decentralized leadership and social innovation. Targeting Social Innovation (SI) in the context of implementation research for vector-borne diseases (VBD) control offers a low-cost strategy to contribute to lasting and contextualized community engagement in disease control and health development in low and middle income countries of the global south. In this article we describe the processes of community engagement and transdisciplinary collaboration underpinning community-based dengue management in rural primary schools and households in two districts in Cambodia. Methods: Multiple student-led and community-based interventions have been implemented focusing on empowering education, communication for behavioral change and participatory epidemiology mapping in order to engage Cambodian communities in dengue control. We describe in particular the significance of the participatory processes that have contributed to the design of SI products that emerged following iterative consultations with community stakeholders to address the dengue problem. Results: The SI products that emerged following our interaction with community members are 1) adult mosquito traps made locally from solid waste collections, 2) revised dengue curriculum with hands-on activities for transformative learning, 3) guppy distribution systems led by community members, 4) co-design of dengue prevention communication material by students and community members, 5) community mapping. Conclusions: The initiative described in this article put in motion processes of community engagement towards creating ownership of dengue control interventions tools by community stakeholders, including school children. While the project is ongoing, the project's interventions so far implemented have contributed to the emergence of culturally relevant SI products and provided initial clues regarding 1) the conditions allowing SI to emerge, 2) specific mechanisms by which it happens and 3) how external parties can facilitate SI emergence. Overall there seems to be a strong argument to be made in supporting SI as a desirable outcome of project implementation towards building adaptive capacity and resilience and to use the protocol supporting this project implementation as an operational guiding document for other VBD adaptive management in the region

Cost analysis as a vitamin A program design and evaluation tool: a case study of the Philippines

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a serious and widespread public health problem in the Philippines. Initiated in 1993, the Philippines National Vitamin A Supplementation Program (NVASP) is one of the oldest, most mature and comprehensive of its kind. This paper presents a cost-effectiveness and efficiency analysis of the NVASP and of a hypothetical program of vitamin A fortification of wheat flour that was conducted to inform policymakers as to how to modify the program. Employing a proxy effectiveness indicator of VAD -- the intake ofCost-effectiveness analysis Health care financing Vitamin A Micronutrients Public policy