PHM-Exch> Considerations for Incorporating Health Equity into Project Designs

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at paho.org>
crossposted from: EQUIDAD at listserv.paho.org


** ** ** ** **

*Considerations for Incorporating Health Equity into Project Designs:*

*A Guide for Community-Oriented Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health
Projects

*****

*MCHIP Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program

*

Available online PDG [38p.] at: http://bit.ly/11J85dI

****

** **

“…..This guide was developed to give those who design and implement
community-oriented health programs a systematic way of ensuring that equity
is incorporated into program designs and that its improvement can be better
demonstrated and explained. It focuses on equitable health outcomes….”

****

“….While not a prescriptive document that promotes one approach to equity
programming, this guide presents a series of concepts and approaches to
take into consideration and decisions to be made that lead to the
development of a coherent equity strategy as part of a program design.
These questions can serve as a basis for dialog among teams involved in
designing programs and can help to ensure a shared understanding of the
equity approach used.

****

This guide was developed through a process of consultation with equity
experts in the field and review of literature on this subject. Although
this document should be helpful in its present form, it is anticipated that
it will be improved based on further input and feedback from experts,
including those implementing programs and from further literature review…..”

****

** **

*Content

*

I. Introduction

****

II. Equity: Definitions, Models, and Assumptions to Guide our Thinking ****

Guiding Assumptions ****

Key Assumption 1: Addressing equity means more than simply working in a
disadvantaged geographical region; it means reaching the most disadvantaged
within that region. ****

Key Assumption 2: Developing strategies to address inequity requires
understanding and deciding how to handle the underlying conditions. ****

Key Assumption 3: Obtaining high coverage levels depends on decisions made
along a continuum from narrowly targeting a disadvantaged group to a
universal approach aimed at all groups.

****

III. What You Can do to Build Equity Issues into Your Design and M&E
System:
            A Six step Process to Design an Equity focused Project ****

Step 1: Understand the Equity Issues in the Project Area****

Identify inequities in health outcomes ****

Understand the underlying socioeconomic issues and barriers that lead to
inequity ****

Step 2: Identify the Disadvantaged Group on which to Focus ****

How do you determine which group to prioritize? ****

A. Review secondary data that have been disaggregated by different groups,
specifically ethnic, geographic, age, gender, religion, or wealth. ****

B. Conduct quantitative or qualitative studies that look at differences
between groups. ****

C. Work with communities and religious/social leaders to identify the most
disadvantaged groups and work within the national government definition of
disadvantaged groups. ****

D. Consider the cost of reaching a particular disadvantaged group compared
to reaching another group that also needs attention. ****

Step 3: Decide What is in Your Manageable Interest to Change ****

Step 4: Define Equity Goals, Objectives, and a Project‐specific Operational
Definition of Equity ****

Project‐specific operational definition of equity ****

Step 5: Determine Equity Strategies and Activities ****

Step 6: Develop an Equity‐focused M&E System ****

Methodologies for measuring equity ****

Modified KPC survey ****

Assetbased wealth quintile analysis ****

Qualitative techniques ****

Monitoring users of services ****

Quick Poverty Score ****

Slope Index of Inequality (SII)

****

IV. Conclusion ****

References****

** **

Annex 1: Adapting the KPC Tool for Baseline and Monitoring to Capture
Inequities in the Project Area:****

Implications for the Questionnaire, Sample Size, and Sampling Methodology **
**

Annex 2: Example: Philippine Child Survival Program (International Aid)

****

** **
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20130408/0818dd94/attachment.html>