Global Health: Science and Practice (GHSP)
September 2015 | Volume 3 | Issue 3
http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/current

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EDITORIALS
Women’s Groups to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomes: Different Evidence Paradigms Toward Impact at Scale
The Care Group model, with relatively intensive international NGO implementation at moderate scale, appears successful in a wide variety of settings, as assessed by high-quality evaluation with rich program learning. Another women’s group approach—Participatory Women’s Groups—has also been implemented across various settings but at smaller scale and assessed using rigorous RCT methodology under controlled—but less naturalistic—conditions with generally, although not uniformly, positive results. Neither approach, as implemented to date, is directly applicable to large-scale integration into current public programs. Our challenge is to distill the elements of success across these approaches that empower women with knowledge, motivation, and increased self-efficacy—and to apply them in real-world programs at scale.
Glob Health Sci Pract 2015;3(3):323-326. http://dx.doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00251

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ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Care Groups I: An Innovative Community-Based Strategy for Improving Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health in Resource-Constrained Settings
Care Groups use volunteers to motivate mothers to adopt key MCH behaviors. The volunteers meet as a group every 2–4 weeks with a paid facilitator to learn new health promotion messages. Key ingredients of the approach include: peer-to-peer health promotion, selection of volunteers by the mothers, a manageable workload for the volunteers (no more than 15 households per volunteer), frequent (at least monthly) contact between volunteers and mothers, and regular supervision of the volunteers.
Henry Perry, Melanie Morrow, Sarah Borger, Jennifer Weiss, Mary DeCoster, Thomas Davis, Pieter Ernst
Glob Health Sci Pract 2015;3(3):358-369. http://dx.doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00051

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Care Groups II: A Summary of the Child Survival Outcomes Achieved Using Volunteer Community Health Workers in Resource-Constrained Settings
Care Group projects resulted in high levels of healthy behavior, including use of oral rehydration therapy, bed nets, and health care services. Accordingly, under-5 mortality in Care Group areas declined by an estimated 32% compared with 11% in areas with child survival projects not using Care Groups.
Henry Perry, Melanie Morrow, Thomas Davis, Sarah Borger, Jennifer Weiss, Mary DeCoster, Jim Ricca, Pieter Ernst
Glob Health Sci Pract 2015;3(3):370-381. http://dx.doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00052

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Improved Reproductive Health Equity Between the Poor and the Rich: An Analysis of Trends in 46 Low- and Middle-Income Countries
In light of advocacy efforts to reach the poorest with better health services, an examination of recent history reveals that overall the poor-rich gap in contraceptive use is already narrowing substantially, and more so where family planning programs are stronger. For most of 18 other reproductive health indicators, the gap is also narrowing. However, contraceptive use gaps in many sub-Saharan African countries have not diminished, calling for strong family planning program efforts to improve equity.
John Ross
Glob Health Sci Pract 2015;3(3):419-445. First published online September 7, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00124

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INNOVATIONS
Remote Sensing of Vital Signs: A Wearable, Wireless “Band-Aid” Sensor With Personalized Analytics for Improved Ebola Patient Care and Worker Safety
This wireless sensor technology, currently being field-tested in an Ebola Treatment Unit in Sierra Leone, monitors multiple vital signs continuously and remotely. When connected with enhanced analytics software, it can discern changes in patients’ status much more quickly and intelligently than conventional periodic monitoring, thus saving critical health care worker time and reducing exposure to pathogens.
Steven R Steinhubl, Mark P Marriott, Stephan W Wegerich
Glob Health Sci Pract 2015;3(3):516-519. http://dx.doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00189