Case Management &Communication &Treatment Bill Brieger | 02 Nov 2015 11:13 pm
Case Management of Malaria: A Review and Qualitative Assessment of Social and Behavior Change Communication Strategies in Four Countries
Kamden Hoffmann1 and Michael Toso2 presented a poster today at the 143rd annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Chicago. Their findings are posted below.
Introduction. With the introduction and growing availability of combination therapy and rapid diagnostic tests, case management of malaria has evolved and expanded in scope. Social and behavior change communication (SBCC) activities have been developed to influence prompt care seeking behavior, adherence to test results, and completion of full treatment regimens. This review describes SBCC programming, and the extent to which it has been evaluated for impact, in Zambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Senegal.
Objectives. The purpose of this review is to identify promising SBCC practices related to case management at both community and service provider levels in the four focus countries: Zambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Senegal. Essential for any large-scale communication strategy is a form of impact assessment. Impact assessments aim to answer the question, “Did the communication strategy achieve the specified objectives?” Impact assessments look at the difference that the strategy made in the overall program environment. The indicators can vary depending on the approach and channels used in the strategy.
An example of an impact indicator for malaria case management could be: the proportion of children under five years old with fever in the last two weeks for whom treatment was sought. Typical data sources include:
- Population-based household surveys, such as the Demographic and Health Survey, the Malaria Indicator Survey, or the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.
- Sub-national household surveys, particularly in areas where malaria communication activities were targeted.
Methods. An initial review was undertaken, consisting of a thorough PubMed search for articles related to malaria case management that mentioned SBCC, in the four countries. Malaria case management country-level documents, project reports and related SBCC materials were also collected. Implementing partner reports were gathered from each country related to SBCC and/or malaria case management. A comprehensive list of search terms were used for all four countries.
Qualitative analysis consisted of Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with members of NMCP SBCC/BCC units within the Ministry of Health, USAID implementing partners, and President’s Malaria Initiative staff. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather information related to perceptions and first-hand experiences. A total of nine interviews and four written responses were collected. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcribed interviews and written responses were entered into NVivo 10. An initial codebook was developed based on the semi-structured interview guide. Open and axial coding enhanced the initial codebook as themes were generated in the software.
Conclusions. The review was not able to find a substantial amount of material to show gains in the ability to measure impact of SBCC interventions in malaria case management outcomes. Several programs were able to measure changes in care-seeking behavior and uptake of ACTs; however, these types of programs need to be refined in order to measure the specific contribution of malaria SBCC interventions. Each country reviewed presented a program related to either the care group model or a model with a strong community component, and holds promise for further exploration in terms of launch points to expand the measurement of SBCC impact.
Author Affiliations.
1 Insight Health, 710 Sutter Gate Lane, Morrisville, North Carolina 27560
2 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA
Funding for this study was provided by the US President’s Malaria Initiative.
References.
1 Kidane G, Morrow R. Teaching mothers to provide home treatment of malaria in Tigray, Ethiopia: a randomized trial. The Lancet 2000.
2 Innovation for Scale: Enhancing Ethiopia’s Health Extension Package in the Southern Nations and Nationalities People’s Region (SNNPR) Shebedino and Lanfero Woredas, October 1 2007-September 30 2012. Report of the Final Evaluation. December 2012.
3 Linn AM, Ndiaye Y, Hennessee I, et al. Reduction in symptomatic malaria prevalence through proactive community treatment in rural Senegal. Trop Med Int Health. 2015;20(11):1438-1446.
4 Landegger, J., et al. CHW Peer Support Groups for Integration of Health Service Delivery and Improved Performance: Learning from a Peer Group Model in Rwanda
5 Limange, J., et al., Evaluation: Mid-Term Evaluation of the USAID/Zambia Communications Support for Health Program, January 2013, USAID.
6 Salvation Army/Zambia (TSA), Salvation Army World Service Organization (SAWSO), and TSA Chikankata Health Services Chikankata Child Survival Project (CCSP), 2005?2010, Final Evaluation Report. December 2010.