Continuity of Essential Health Services (CES) Study
| dc.contributor.author | Stones, William | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-12-20T16:17:56Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2021-12-20T16:17:56Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-06-04 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Type of Study This is a Qualitative study in selected geographical areas including key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FDGs) and in-depth interviews with specific target groups (e.g. women living with HIV/AIDS). The scope will include data collection, data quality monitoring, transcription/translation, data analysis and reports on study results. BACKGROUND RATIONALE Malawi registered its first Covid-19 cases in March 2020. A Presidential Taskforce on Covid -19 was immediately set up and Covid-19 prevention measures were put in place and these included: Closing down of schools, social distancing, wearing of masks, self- quarantine for all who tested COVID positive and all in-coming travelers, public gatherings were initially limited to 100 people and this was suspended due to injunctions. While government public health and social measures have likely forestalled some COVID-19 spread, they also have deleterious indirect social, economic and health impacts. While attention is understandably focused on the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to see the health crisis from a broader perspective. In Malawi, health systems are already fragile and people often live in extremely precarious conditions. The coronavirus pandemic risks further reducing vulnerable people’s already limited access to healthcare, as resources – both human and financial – get diverted from regular healthcare to the COVID-19 response. OBJECTIVES The overall study objective is: • To investigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on people’s willingness and ability to access essential MNCH services, their experiences of care and the perspectives of staff on MNCH services’ readiness to provide essential care during the pandemic. Specific study objectives are to: 1. Comprehend how COVID-19 has affected pregnant and breastfeeding women’s access to maternal and newborn health services. 2. Comprehend how COVID-19 has affected access to child health services for the under-fives. 3. Comprehend any specific challenges faced by vulnerable groups during COVID-19 with regard to access to MNCH services. METHODS The methodology will include focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs), followed by in-depth interviews (IDIs) to capture respondents of vulnerable groups. The data will be collected from Mchinji and Blantyre Districts (indicative locations to be confirmed following consultation) and the study population will include adult pregnant/breastfeeding women, parents/caretakers of children under five years of age, adolescents (15 to 19 years of age,companions/partners of pregnant/breastfeeding women and pregnant/breastfeeding adolescents, community-based health workers, health workers and facility based managers. DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS All audio and handwritten data collected from the FGDs and interviews will be stored securely. Electronic notes, transcripts and translations will be stored electronically and protected by a password. Only members of the research team will have access to these documents. As soon as the audio-recordings have been transcribed and verified, they will be destroyed by erasing the voice recordings. Framework analysis will be used for cross-sectional analysis of data from FGDs, IDIs and KIIs. The focus will be on understanding the demand and supply-side barriers to seeking routine and emergency health care services, the extent to which the pandemic has impacted people’s willingness and ability to access MNCH services and how service readiness and provision has changed as a result of COVID- 19 and its effects. A combination of deductive and inductive themes will be included. POSSIBLE CONSTRAINTS COVID-19 situation might require adaptation of study methods using more or only virtual methods for interviews and FDGs; virtual FDGs might be not ideal given that moderators should be physically present to be able to catch the dynamics in the groups and to be able to guide and facilitate appropriately. However, the research teams will only do virtual FDGs in case there is no alternative. RESULTS PRESENTATION Key findings will be presented during a webinar with a UN, participating districts and MoH audience. All data collected, analytical memos and framework analysis files will be de-identified and shared with UNICEF alongside draft reports. The report will also be shared with COMREC. IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY We anticipate that findings from this study will highlight the impact of Covid-19 on people’s willingness and ability to access essential MNCH services, their experiences of care and the perspectives of staff on MNCH services’ readiness to provide essential care during the pandemic. | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://rscarchive.kuhes.ac.mw/handle/20.500.12988/590 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Kamuzu University of Health Sciences | en_US |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | Protocol;P.03/21/3282 | |
| dc.subject | Research Subject Categories::MEDICINE | en_US |
| dc.title | Continuity of Essential Health Services (CES) Study | en_US |
| dc.title.alternative | Exploring effect of COVID-19 on demand for maternal, newborn and child health services in selected districts in Malawi | en_US |
| dc.type | Plan or blueprint | en_US |