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Building the capacity of health professionals in developing countries through the use of public domain software to analyze Demographic and Health Survey data
Author(s) -
HromiFiedler Amber,
Aryeetey Richmond,
Lartey Anna,
Marquis Grace,
Sellen Dan,
PérezEscamilla Rafael
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a303-d
Subject(s) - public health , developing country , public domain , medical education , agriculture , capacity building , environmental health , political science , public relations , medicine , economic growth , geography , nursing , archaeology , law , economics
Nationally representative data sets, such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), are valuable resources for evaluating country trends within the field of nutrition. Teaching health professionals to analyze DHS data using public domain software enables them to build capacity for: evaluating national and local trends of key indicators, and understanding risk factors for key health and nutrition outcomes. We piloted the efficacy of teaching Ghanaian health professionals how to analyze DHS data, including children's anthropometry, using Epi Info for Windows through an intensive 4‐day workshop at the University of Ghana, Legon. We also developed a 200+ page manual that was provided to all participants. Twenty‐two participants traveled from several regions in Ghana to attend the workshop. Over half of participants represented the Ghanaian Health Services, while the rest were from research organizations, NGOs, as well as educational and health institutions. Evaluations indicated the workshop was successful at meeting its objectives. Replication of this workshop worldwide has important implications for nutrition programming and research in developing countries. Funded by a USDA predoctoral fellowship, The UConn College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the US National Institutes of Health grant # HD43620 .