Supporting local decision-making

Supporting local decision-making

Many countries have identified primary health care as an urgent priority, but they lack the data needed to pinpoint weaknesses, understand the causes of weakness and drive improvements.

Better data is essential to improve health outcomes, yet routinely available data for the monitoring of progress are often of low quality. Even where rich data sources are available, there can be limited capacity to synthesise, interpret and learn from the data.

IDEAS works to support local decision-making in Nigeria, Ethiopia and India.

In Gombe State, Nigeria, IDEAS uses a results framework with six-monthly data-driven learning workshops to support the Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation implementation projects.

In West Bengal, India, IDEAS supported district health decision-making through a prototype phase of the Data-Informed Platform for Health (DIPH) – a structured method combining a toolkit with facilitated discussions and action planning. This involves a five-step cycle running every 3-4 months at district level. Standardized job-aids facilitate linking of input and process data from health and other sectors onto a common data-sharing platform. Government and non-government stakeholders analyse the data, identify challenges and gaps and agree on measures to be taken to resolve issues.

IDEAS is using an action-research approach to adapt, implement and evaluate the Data-Informed Platform for Health for the Ethiopian context.

Research brief

Introducing the Data-Informed Platform for Health

What is a Data-Informed Platform for Health? In low-resource settings the use of local data for health system planning and decision-making is often limited. What data there is may be of poor quality and a data sharing culture is lacking. Health administrators often have limited capacity to analyse and use data for...

India Supporting local decision-making Capacity strengthening Local data use

Published content

Research brief

Introducing the Data-Informed Platform for Health

What is a Data-Informed Platform for Health? In low-resource settings the use of local data for health system planning and decision-making...

India Supporting local decision-making Capacity strengthening Local data use

News

Better measurement for better maternal and newborn health: A new ten million dollar grant for research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

What is IDEAS? IDEAS (Informed DEcisions for ActionS in maternal and newborn health) aims to improve the health and survival of mothers and babies...

General Community-based newborn care Fostering innovation sustainability Improving coverage measurement Supporting local decision-making Tracking progress Understanding quality improvement

Research brief

The Pathway to Improved Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes in Gombe State, Nigeria

Use of data for maternal and newborn health in Gombe State, Nigeria (Data from February 2016)

Nigeria Supporting local decision-making Tracking progress Behaviour change Capacity strengthening Implementation projects Local data use

Journal article

Commentary-District decision-making to strengthen maternal, newborn and child health services in low-income settings

Commentary to accompany a series of four papers on the use of data for district decision-making for health in low-income settings, published in Health Policy and Planning.

Supporting local decision-making Local data use

Journal article

District decision-making for health in low-income settings: a feasibility study of a data-informed platform for health in India, Nigeria and Ethiopia

A study of the feasibility of using a data informed platform for health in a district health systems context in five districts of India, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Ethiopia India Nigeria Supporting local decision-making Local data use

Journal article

District decision-making for health in low-income settings: a systematic literature review

A systematic literature review investigating the ways in which district administrators and health managers in low- and lower-middle-income countries use health data to make decisions.

General Supporting local decision-making Local data use

Journal article

District decision-making for health in low-income settings: a case study of the potential of public and private sector data in India and Ethiopia

A study documenting the nature and type of data collected by the public and private health systems, data flow and sharing, use and inter-sectoral linkages in India and Ethiopia.

Ethiopia India Supporting local decision-making Local data use

Journal article

District decision-making for health in low-income settings: a qualitative study in Uttar Pradesh, India, on engaging the private health sector in sharing health-related data

An assessment of the extent of maternal, newborn and child health-related data sharing between the private and public sectors in two districts of Uttar Pradesh, India; analysing barriers to data sharing; and identifying the key inputs required.

India Supporting local decision-making Local data use

News

Accelerating progress in Maternal and Newborn Child Health

How do we scale-up high impact service packages that will accelerate progress in maternal and newborn child health towards the 2030 Sustainable...

Ethiopia Fostering innovation sustainability Improving coverage measurement Supporting local decision-making Understanding quality improvement Capacity strengthening Intervention coverage Local data use