Population Council Research that makes a difference

Building on the positive results of a previous project, researchers with the Council’s FRONTIERS program worked with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the state governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra to scale up the quality assurance program for district-level management.

Results of the previous project showed that the quality assurance model is easily integrated into district-level programs and significantly improves the quality of reproductive health services provided.

A manual (PDF) was developed as a tool to enable district-level managers to systematically monitor the quality of reproductive health services. FRONTIERS provided technical assistance to help build the capacity of state officials to implement the QA model in all 25 districts in Gujarat. During the first phase, over 1,900 staff members in about 35 percent of the state’s 1,345 primary and community health facilities received training on the QA model.

FRONTIERS helped develop a management information system and trained government staff members on its use. Use of checklists resulted in significant improvements of facility readiness and service delivery, but the quality of care provided remained uniformly low. When expansion to the remaining primary and community health centers is complete, the QA model will be implemented at the subcenter level as well.

In collaboration with UNFPA, PATH, and EngenderHealth, the Population Council is currently developing an abridged version of the manual to be introduced in six additional states.