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Congregation-based Health Education - 37% More Pregnant Women Tested for HIV

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Strategy researched

Culturally adapted, family-centred approach that relies on widely distributed religious infrastructure and church-based community networks

Impact achieved

37% more pregnant women in the programme had HIV testing compared with women who were not in the programme; pregnant women who were not in the programme were 11 times more likely to not be tested for HIV, compared to women in the programme. Women in the programme who had tested positive were 6.2x more likely to be linked to care & 2.8x more likely to access care & receive antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy than those not in the programme.

Country of study

Nigeria

Research methodology

RCT

Journal

The Lancet Global Health; 2015

Journal paper title and link

Effect of a congregation-based intervention on uptake of HIV testing and linkage to care in pregnant women in Nigeria (Baby Shower): a cluster randomised trial

Excerpt from Abstract

"Culturally adapted, community-based programmes such as the Healthy Beginning Initiative can be effective in increasing HIV screening in pregnant women in resource-limited settings."

 

Why the focus on direct impact data?

A common challenge from policy makers, funders, community members, people directly experiencing development issues, and governments is: Demonstrate your Impact. Prove that what you are doing works. The high quality, highly credible data presented on the cards below is designed to help you answer that question for your social change, behaviour change, community engagement, communication and media for development, strategy formulation, policy engagement and funding initiatives. At this link filter the research data to your specific interests and priorities

Why a playing cards design?

There is a physical pack of cards with this data (to get a copy please request through the comment form for any card). The card approach allows for easy identification and selection of relevant direct impact data in any context. For example if talking with a donor and you need to identify proof of impact say "take a look at the 7 of Hearts". Quick access can be provided to high-quality data for many areas of your work – funding, planning, policy, advocacy, community dialogue, training, partner engagement, and more. A card deck is also engaging, easy to use and share, a conversation starter, and a resource - and they are fun and different. So we kept that design for the online images as it can serve similar purposes. 

What are the criteria for inclusion?

The impact data presented meets the following high standard for inclusion criteria:

  • Positive change or trend in a priority development issue;
  • Social change or behaviour change strategy or process;
  • Randomized Control Trial or Systematic Review methodology;
  • High quality peer review journal published;
  • Numeric impact data point
  • Published since 2010.