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Bridging the Gap Between Evidence‐based Innovation and National Health‐sector Reform in Ghana
Author(s) -
AwoonorWilliams John Koku,
Feinglass Ellie S.,
Tobey Rachel,
VaughanSmith Maya N.,
Nyonator Frank K.,
Jones Tanya C.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
studies in family planning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1728-4465
pISSN - 0039-3665
DOI - 10.1111/j.1728-4465.2004.00020.x
Subject(s) - bridging (networking) , implementation research , scale (ratio) , economic growth , monitoring and evaluation , resource (disambiguation) , business , medicine , economics , nursing , geography , computer network , cartography , computer science , psychological intervention
Although experimental trials often identify optimal strategies for improving community health, transferring operational innovation from well‐funded research programs to resource‐constrained settings often languishes. Because research initiatives are based in institutions equipped with unique resources and staff capabilities, results are often dismissed by decisionmakers as irrelevant to large‐scale operations and national health policy. This article describes an initiative undertaken in Nkwanta District, Ghana, focusing on this problem. The Nkwanta District initiative is a critical link between the experimental study conducted in Navrongo, Ghana, and a national effort to scale up the innovations developed in that study. A 2002 Nkwanta district‐level survey provides the basis for assessing the likelihood that the Navrongo model is replicable elsewhere in Ghana. The effect of community‐based health planning and services exposure on family planning and safe‐motherhood indicators supports the hypothesis that Navrongo effects are transferable to impoverished rural settings elsewhere, confirming the need for strategies to bridge the gap between Navrongo evidence‐based innovation and national health‐sector reform.