Improving coverage measurement

Improving coverage measurement

Because of challenges in measurement, progress can often only be tracked through the use of proxy measures, which increase the risk of inappropriate decisions being made in maternal and newborn health. This issue affects stakeholders around the world, particularly women and children who might benefit from life-saving interventions.

Working with global and national partners, IDEAS aims to improve the measurement of priority indicators for maternal and newborn health by testing the coverage estimates derived from multiple sources – including household interviews, service user exit interviews, last event interviews with health facility staff and review of facility records – against gold standard coverage estimates obtained by the observation of births. Further, our research involves developing and testing methods for linking data sources so actionable effective coverage measures are generated.

Journal article

Maternal and newborn health improves in rural Nigeria, Ethiopia and India but inequities still exist

“Our findings have a both optimistic and pessimistic interpretation, in that families from all socioeconomic status groups benefited, but...

Ethiopia General India Nigeria Improving coverage measurement Tracking progress Evidence for policy and practice Intervention coverage Research findings

Journal article

Adding Content to Contacts: Measurement of High Quality Contacts for Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia, North East Nigeria, and Uttar Pradesh, India

Families in high mortality settings need regular contact with high quality health services. This paper presents a method for estimating the population level coverage of high quality contacts.

Ethiopia India Nigeria Improving coverage measurement Understanding quality improvement Evaluation methods Intervention coverage

Report

Changes in maternal and newborn health care in Uttar Pradesh, India

Interactions between families and frontline workers – their frequency, quality, and equity – and coverage of interventions for mothers and newborns in Uttar Pradesh, India

India Improving coverage measurement Tracking progress Implementation projects Intervention coverage Research findings

Report

Changes in maternal and newborn health care in Gombe State, Nigeria

Interactions between families and frontline workers – their frequency, quality, and equity – and coverage of interventions for mothers and newborns in Gombe State, Nigeria.

Nigeria Improving coverage measurement Tracking progress Understanding quality improvement Implementation projects Intervention coverage Research findings

Report

Changes in maternal and newborn health care in Ethiopia

The aim of this study was to estimate changes in maternal and newborn health care in areas of Ethiopia where implementation projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were operating.

Ethiopia Improving coverage measurement Tracking progress Understanding quality improvement Intervention coverage Research findings

Published content

Journal article

Maternal, newborn, and child health and the Sustainable Development Goals-a call for sustained and improved measurement [Comment]

This paper was written by measurement experts, and discusses how to improve meausrement for women, adolescents, children and newborns in the face of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

General Improving coverage measurement Intervention coverage

Blog Post

Measuring content of contacts reveals missed opportunities to deliver quality maternal and newborn health care

Findings have been published in Plos One and the data supporting this analysis are now freely available online. Quality of health care is a big...

General Improving coverage measurement Tracking progress Understanding quality improvement Research findings

Journal article

Adding Content to Contacts: Measurement of High Quality Contacts for Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia, North East Nigeria, and Uttar Pradesh, India

Families in high mortality settings need regular contact with high quality health services. This paper presents a method for estimating the population level coverage of high quality contacts.

Ethiopia India Nigeria Improving coverage measurement Understanding quality improvement Evaluation methods Intervention coverage

Journal article

Measurement of delayed bathing and early initiation of breastfeeding: a cross-sectional survey exploring experiences of data collectors in Ethiopia

This paper recommends that the inclusion of standard probes or follow-on questions to the existing survey tools assessing delayed bathing and early initiation of breastfeeding. Data collectors also require further guidance in using appropriate probes to gather accurate maternal responses.

Ethiopia Improving coverage measurement Evaluation methods Research findings