Getting off on the wrong foot? How community groups in Zimbabwe position themselves for partnerships with external agencies in the HIV response

Social and Psychological Readiness to Take Collective Action Against Violence Against Women: A Mixed Methods Study of Informal Settlements in Mumbai, India

Past failures to mobilize communities in collective action against violence against women (VAW) have been ascribed to contextual challenges, but researchers have not systematically mapped community capacity for collective action against VAW. We conducted a mixed methods study in Mumbai, India using quantitative data from a household survey (n = 2,642) and qualitative data from 264 community meetings. We found attitudes supporting gender inequality and violence coexisted with significant enthusiasm and support for collective action against VAW. These findings open up avenues for policymakers to treat communities as less vulnerable and more capable of changing situations and problems that affect them.

Health priority-setting for official development assistance in low-income and middle-income countries: a Best Fit Framework Synthesis study with primary data from Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania

BACKGROUND

Decision making process for Official Development Assistance (ODA) for healthcare sector in low-income and middle-income countries involves multiple agencies, each with their unique power, priorities and funding mechanisms. This process at country level has not been well studied.

METHODS

This paper developed and applied a new framework to analyze decision-making process for priority setting in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania, and collected primary data to validate and refine the model. The framework was developed following a scoping review of published literature. Interviews were then conducted using a pre-determined interview guide developed by the research team. Transcripts were reviewed and coded based on the framework to identify what principles, players, processes, and products were considered during priority setting. Those elements were further used to identify where the potential capacity of local decision-makers could be harnessed.

RESULTS

A framework was developed based on 40 articles selected from 6860 distinct search records. Twenty-one interviews were conducted in three case countries from 12 institutions. Transcripts or meeting notes were analyzed to identify common practices and specific challenges faced by each country. We found that multiple stakeholders working around one national plan was the preferred approach used for priority setting in the countries studied.

CONCLUSIONS

Priority setting process can be further strengthened through better use of analytical tools, such as the one described in our study, to enhance local ownership of priority setting for ODA and improve aid effectiveness.

Exploring the evolution of policies for universal antiretroviral therapy and their implementation across three sub-Saharan African countries: Findings from the SHAPE study

Universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) strategies have dramatically changed HIV programming across sub-Saharan Africa. We explored factors that influenced the development, adoption and implementation of universal ART policies in Tanzania, South Africa and Malawi. We conducted 26 key informant interviews and applied Kingdon's 'streams' model to explore how problems, policies and politics converged to provide a window of opportunity for universal ART roll-out. Weak health systems and sub-optimal care retention were raised as problems during Option B+ implementation, which preceded universal ART , and persisted after its implementation. The adoption and implementation of Option B+ policy facilitated the uptake of universal ART. Politics played out through pressures from different stakeholders to accelerate or slow down implementation, from governments, civil society groups, researchers and donors. Policy processes leading to universal ART were open to pressures and influence. The extraordinary financial support which enabled the widespread and rapid implementation of universal ART skewed the power balance and sometimes left little space for locally-derived solutions to respond to specific health system abilities and epidemiological contexts. Donors may be more effective if they ensure a greater focus on strengthening the whole health system as well as accounting for local contextual factors and recent policy development histories when funding policy implementation.

Promoting women's and children's health through community groups in low-income and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review of mechanisms, enablers and barriers

INTRODUCTION

Community mobilisation through group activities has been used to improve women's and children's health in a range of low-income and middle-income contexts, but the mechanisms through which it works deserve greater consideration. We did a mixed-methods systematic review of mechanisms, enablers and barriers to the promotion of women's and children's health in community mobilisation interventions.

METHODS

We searched for theoretical and empirical peer-reviewed articles between January 2000 and November 2018. First, we extracted and collated proposed mechanisms, enablers and barriers into categories. Second, we extracted and synthesised evidence for them using narrative synthesis. We assessed risk of bias with adapted Downs and Black and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists. We assigned confidence grades to each proposed mechanism, enabler and barrier.

RESULTS

78 articles met the inclusion criteria, of which 39 described interventions based on a participatory group education model, 19 described community-led structural interventions to promote sexual health in marginalised populations and 20 concerned other types of intervention or multiple interventions at once. We did not have high confidence in any mechanism, enabler or barrier. Two out of 15 proposed mechanisms and 10 out of 12 proposed enablers and barriers reached medium confidence. A few studies provided direct evidence relating proposed mechanisms, enablers or barriers to health behaviours or health outcomes. Only two studies presented mediation or interaction analysis for a proposed mechanism, enabler or barrier.

CONCLUSION

We uncovered multiple proposed mechanisms, enablers and barriers to health promotion through community groups, but much work remains to provide a robust evidence base for proposed mechanisms, enablers and barriers.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42018093695.

The role of support groups in linking and retaining newly diagnosed clients in HIV care in a peri-urban location in South Africa

Although South Africa has the largest number of people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the world, many HIV clients drop out of care immediately after HIV diagnosis. This qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of newly diagnosed clients on the role support groups play in linking and retaining newly diagnosed clients in HIV care in Mbandazayo peri-urban location. The data were analysed using the thematic content analysis approach. Data revealed four mechanisms through which support groups appeared to link and retain newly diagnosed clients in the HIV care continuum. First, support groups were a formal link between newly diagnosed clients and health facilities. Second, support groups mitigated the effects of both felt and enacted stigma, thereby facilitating acceptance of HIV diagnosis among newly diagnosed clients. Third, support groups were an advocacy and networking tool for newly diagnosed clients to make their health related needs, challenges, and concerns known to local health clinics, thereby forging and maintaining a close relationship with their local health facilities. Last, support groups were spaces within the community where practical needs of newly diagnosed clients are met, which in turn help in retaining them within support groups, and facilitate their linkage and retention in the HIV continuum of care in Mbandazayo. Our findings suggest that HIV support groups are critical in enhancing linkages and retention of newly diagnosed clients in HIV care. With the introduction of universal test and treat (UTT) in South Africa, our findings suggest that support groups can play a significant role in retaining HIV care clients who are diagnosed and immediately enrolled on ART.