TRAction: Translating Research into Action

The USAID | Translating Research into Action (TRAction) supported IIP's efforts to carry out embedded research to improve the monitoring and evaluation (M&E)-and ultimately the impact-of integrated community case management (ICCM) programming for young children.

We refer to this project as "CCM: Improving Data to Improve Programs" or CCM-IDIP. Through CCM-IDIP, we assessed the national ICCM M&E systems in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali and Mozambique with a special focus on data interpretation and use in improving programs. In addition, we conducted embedded operations research in Malawi to improve ICCM monitoring systems and data availability, quality and use.

All steps of the research (development, implementation and interpretation) were conducted in collaboration with Save the Children (STC) headquarters and country offices, the ministries of health, development partners, and program implementers in each country to ensure that the research met program needs and that the results could be used to strengthen health systems on a sustainable basis. Our ultimate goal was to improve the effectiveness of ICCM programming through better data and indicators that allow program managers to identify bottlenecks and potentially innovative solutions within the system.

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES INCLUDED:

  1. Desk reviews using the ICCM Benchmark Indicators as a framework to describe the routine and partner M&E systems and availability and feasibility of collecting the Benchmark indicators.
  2. Data quality assessments to measure the availability, completeness, timeliness and quality of the routine ICCM monitoring data.
  3. In Malawi we have implemented two "innovative" approaches to improve ICCM monitoring.
    1. A study examining the validity of implementation strength data collected by mobile phone interviews with community health workers. Study Report
    2. Implementation of a data use and quality improvement package to give community health workers, health facility and district staff the tools to analyze and interpret the ICCM data they routinely report to both improve the overall data quality and allow health workers to quickly make data-based decisions to improve programs at the grassroots level.