Tagged: Research

  • My tribute to Peter Lamptey’s lifelong contributions to global health

    A version of this post originally appeared on FHI 360’s R&E Search for Evidence blog.

    Known around the world, Prof. Peter Lamptey is a global health champion in any light. Many of you may know him from his early involvement in the global HIV response or from his fight to raise public awareness of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). I first heard Prof. Lamptey speak about the role of laboratory science in the NCD response at a conference plenary hosted by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine, my former employer. A compelling talk for sure, but notably his plenary was also my first significant introduction to FHI 360’s research.

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  • Research improves handwashing programs by uncovering drivers of behavior change

    A version of this post originally appeared on FHI 360’s R&E Search for Evidence blog.

    Evidence on the health and social benefits of handwashing is strong. We know that handwashing can prevent up to 40% of diarrheal diseases, and can lead to fewer school absences and increased economic productivity. However, many people don’t wash their hands at critical times, even when handwashing facilities are available. While research on behavior change has shown examples of approaches that lead to increased rates in handwashing, we’re still seeking to understand why people wash their hands, and how motivation for handwashing can be translated into programs that result in effective behavior change.

    In advance of Global Handwashing Day on October 15, USAID and the Global Handwashing Partnership – an international coalition with a Secretariat hosted by FHI 360 – organized a webinar on drivers for handwashing behavior change. The Partnership’s work focuses on promoting handwashing with soap as key to health and development, with an emphasis on connecting practitioners with research findings to inform their work. Our webinar speakers provided two examples of how research is exploring behavior change from cognitive (how we think about and understand handwashing) and automatic (how we can be unconsciously prompted to wash our hands) standpoints. In this blog post, I’ll summarize how the two examples show different ways of understanding human behavior and discuss how the findings help us understand what drives behavior change for handwashing.

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  • R&E Search for Evidence: Highlights from the last quarter of FHI 360’s blog on research and evaluation

    The Research and Evaluation Strategic Initiative team published 14 posts during the last quarter in our blog, R&E Search for Evidence. For those not familiar with our blog, it features FHI 360 thought leaders who write about research and evaluation methodology and practice, compelling evidence for development programming and new findings from recent journal publications. We have published 31 original posts to date.

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  • Standing up for science

    Now, more than ever, is a time to stand up for science. The U.S. administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 calls for severe cuts to several key science-generating institutions, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These cuts would result in a deterioration of the science that has allowed the United States to be the global leader in medicine, public health and environmental science. They would also stall progress in global development, an area which has benefited greatly from the many lifesaving solutions produced through science.

    Given the administration’s apparent disregard for science, we should take a step back and ask ourselves what may seem like a simple question: What is science and why does it matter? Of the many definitions, the most basic is the standard dictionary definition: a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular matter. More importantly though, science is a process or way of thinking that seeks to reveal the “truth.” Not knowing the truth about something is like driving through a heavy fog. Science can cut through this fog and reveal the truth.

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  • R&E Search for Evidence: New FHI 360 blog leverages research and evaluation to advance development solutions

    FHI 360’s Research and Evaluation Strategic Initiative team is pleased to report that we have already published 15 posts in FHI 360’s newest blog, R&E Search for Evidence, since its launch in February. The R&E Search for Evidence blog features posts that engage readers with discussions of innovative methodologies, evidence reviews and analyses of recent journal publications. We focus on delivering in-depth coverage of research and evaluation methods and findings to better address the world’s most complex human development challenges.

    Stay tuned for what’s to come on “R&E Search for Evidence” in future weeks. Weekly blog posts will continue to feature the analysis of FHI 360 thought leaders to promote a culture of generating and using evidence for making development solutions a reality. Upcoming posts will explore the evaluation of quality improvement programming, additional guidance on sampling, promising evidence on integrated development and much more!

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  • Does evidence tell us that integrated development approaches work? It depends!

    ID Summit logoWhen we tackle complex, global challenges and their many root causes, intuition tells us that development initiatives need to be more holistic — the approaches may need to be as interconnected as the problems. Even the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda states its aims are integrated and indivisible. Yet, the critically important question, “What evidence supports integrated development in practice?” can best be answered through the saying “context is king.”

    Integration is an umbrella phrase that can describe thousands of different cross-sector approaches — from health and microfinance, to nutrition and education, to conservation and livelihoods. Consider how evidence showing huge impacts in the integration of savings groups with girls’ education would be relevant for people trying to decide whether to integrate agriculture and environmental conservation. Context matters. A lot. What is being integrated with what? How? For what purpose?

    Global development decisionmakers must resist the temptation for a simple, universal answer to whether integration works. The notion that any one gold-standard study on its own will answer the integrated development hypothesis is false. Evidence for cross-sector approaches will always depend on the specific sectors, geography and people in question.

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  • AVAC, a global advocacy organization for HIV prevention, recently released AVAC Report 2013: Research and Reality. The report urges the biomedical HIV prevention field to address gaps between the promising data from recent clinical trials and the complicated reality of implementing new options. The need for a renewed focus on the research agenda for women’s HIV prevention is also emphasized.

    The report calls on funders and researchers to learn from the lessons offered by recent HIV prevention trials with better problem solving, more critical thinking and coordinated action around large-scale human trials; faster rollout of proven options; and ongoing research for new advances in HIV prevention methods that women and men will want to use.

    FHI 360 plays a pivotal role in HIV prevention research. Data from FHI 360 research informed some of the report’s findings, such as those on treatment as prevention, male circumcision and microbicides. Ward Cates, MD, MPH, President Emeritus and Distinguished Scientist with FHI 360 along with other leaders in the field, was recognized for the contributions he made to the report.

    Research and Reality offers four key recommendations:

    • Launch complex trials to answer complex questions
    • Map rollout beyond pilot projects
    • Invest in innovative approaches to virologic suppression
    • Align programs, models and funding to stay on track to end AIDS

    Learn more about the AVAC Report 2013: Research and Reality.