RHINO

To help ensure data is used for health decision-making, MEASURE Evaluation is launching a series of webinars focusing on Data Demand and Use (DDU) concepts, tools and training toolkits for M&E data users and producers. The Data Demand and Use webinar series will include seven one-hour sessions all starting at 9:00 am EST. Sessions will begin with a brief overview of DDU, presentation of a DDU tool/technical area including field application, and an opportunity for questions and answers. While we encourage participation in all of the webinars, it is possible to participate in as few or as many as you like. The dates and session topics for the series is as follows:

 
• Tuesday, January 17th – Assessment of Constraints to Data Use
• Tuesday, January 24th – Information Use Map
• Tuesday, January 31st – Stakeholder Engagement
• Tuesday, February 7th – PRISM
• Tuesday, February 14th – Framework for Linking Data with Action
• Tuesday, February 21st – Seven Steps Guide
• Tuesday, February 28th DDU Training Materials

 To find out more about the webinar you are interested in and how to participate, please visit : http://www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/our-work/data-demand-and-use/seven-part-webinar-series-on-data-demand-and-use

Dear RHINO members,

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

 RHINO is supported by: 

Virtual Leadership Development Program (VLDP)

for health teams involved with monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of family planning/reproductive health activities in USAID-assisted Anglophone countries

USAID’s MEASURE Evaluation Population and Reproductive Health (PRH) Associate Award is pleased to announce a Virtual Leadership Development Program (VLDP) for local health teams involved with monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of family planning and reproductive health activities in USAID-assisted Anglophone countries. Funded by USAID, the main goal of the VLDP for teams working on M&E of family planning and reproductive health programs is to empower those involved in the collection, analysis, and use of health data, at all levels of an organization, to lead teams facing challenges to achieve their identified results.

The VLDP for teams working on M&E of family planning and reproductive health programs is designed for both public and private sector organizations to strengthen leadership and management practices with a focus on M&E to improve performance and ultimately health outcomes. Experience delivering the VLDP in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia has shown that participation in this leadership program strengthens individual leadership skills, improves team integration and performance, and improves team work climate.

The VLDP is an eleven-week Internet-based leadership development program hosted on the VLDP website of the MEASURE Evaluation project’s partner Management Sciences for Health (MSH). A highly interactive learning program, the VLDP consists of seven learning modules, a supplementary participant workbook, expert virtual facilitation from experienced leadership and organizational development specialists. Program participants work in teams to identify key M&E challenges and begin to address these challenges with the continual support, feedback, and guidance of the facilitators and M&E experts.

The program will begin on February 13, 2012 and conclude on April 27, 2012. The application deadline is January 13, 2012.

This announcement is not only intended to inform you of the program, but also to ask for referrals of candidates. There may be promising teams working in M&E in family planning and reproductive health programs that would be able to increase their contribution to this field in your country by enhancing their leadership skills through this program. We would appreciate it if you would forward this application to potential applicants.

For more information, contact the VLDP mailbox ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). You can also fax (617) 250-9090.

Here is the Invitation from MEASURE Evaluation PRH Project Director and the Application Form.

Please join the next Data Use Net discussion on strategies to increase the use of data by community-based organizations. The discussion will be held from December 5 through 9, 2011.

Worldwide, Community- based Organizations (CBOs) play a critical role of the extended health care system by providing services outside of the Ministry of Health (MOH) system, advocating for needed services and under-represented populations, engaging in policy and priority setting discussions at a national or subnational level, and linking the formal health system to the community—the consumers of health services. While many CBOs collect data, those data are not typically linked to any standardized Routine Health Information Systems. Instead, CBOs are left to determine their own data needs which is often influenced by donors. In the end, such data are used to update current donors on program activities and solicit new funding, but are rarely considered or used by the CBOs to inform programming, evaluate program effectiveness, and make decisions about future activities. As a result, many community-based organizations fail to fully link evidence to decisions and may not be able to adequately respond to the priority needs of the communities they serve.

We are addressing this topic in response to feedback received about future discussion topics from the Data Use Net member survey conducted in December 2010. We encourage you to participate in the discussion and tell us about your experiences with CBO data use activities, including the tools you’ve used and strategies implemented to improve data-informed decision making at the CBO level. We will compile a list of promising practices as result of this discussion.

Please share this announcement with colleagues who are not members of Data Use Net. To sign up for Data Use Net, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

• How can countries gather and use health workforce data to increase access to care? (Capacity Plus Project Issue Brief, 2010)
• Accuracy of Tuberculosis Routine Data and Nurses' Views of the TB-HIV Information System in the Free State, South Africa (Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 2010)
• Improving Health Systems with the Power of Open Source (Capacity Plus Project, 2011)
• Evaluation of Computerized Health Management Information System for Primary Health Care in Rural India (BMC Health Services Research, 2010)
• Tracking and Monitoring the Health Workforce: a New Human Resources Information System (HRIS) in Uganda (Human Resources for Health, 2011)

Health Information System
2^nd Edition

Jean-Pierre d’Altilia
Paul De Caluwé
Jean-Pierre de Lamalle
Isaline Greindl
Frédérick Lecharlier
Alain Wodon

© L’Harmattan, 2010

Foreword

                The first edition of this book, which appeared in 1996, was well received, for it tried to impart practical elements derived from the field experience of its various authors.

                Eight years on, it has become necessary to adapt the first version by taking into consideration developments in information systems in the developing countries, the health situation (the AIDS epidemic, for example and the updating of reference data) and the kind of health information asked for by donors and governments.  This second edition should, we hope, meet these new demands.

                Our intention in this book is to retain a very operational approach, with academic pretensions, by providing those people involved in a health information system with the latest references and practical support in their daily tasks.