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The Last Mile

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The Last Mile
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  • Using public health economics in the fight against NTDs.
    Economic terms such as effectiveness and efficiency are often used when evaluating programs, but what do these terms really mean? Tune in to hear Dr. McFarland from Emory University, and Dr. Dalaba from the University of Health and Allied Sciences, as they discuss the role that public health economics has in the fight against NTDs. A full bio for Dr. McFarland can be found here. A full bio for Dr. Dalaba can be found here. Links to more resources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023) Edwards et al., (2013). Public health economics: a systematic review of guidance for the economic evaluation of public health interventions and discussion of key methodological issues Turner et al., (2019). Economic evaluations of onchocerciasis interventions: a systematic review and research needs
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  • Using qualitative research methods to enhance MDA
    Join Dr. Margaret baker, Dr. Beth Sutherland and Dr. Gemma Aellah to learn about the value and utility of qualitative research methods to enhance MDA. The guide featured in the podcast can be found by following the link: https://www.ntdtoolbox.org/toolbox-search/guide-improving-mda-using-qualitative-methods Speaker bios: Gem Aellah is Research Fellow in Health and Social Science in the Global Health and Infection Department at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK. Gem is part of the  Social Science for Severe Stigmatizing Skin Neglected Tropical Diseases Foundation, a collaborative NIHR-funded research partnership across UK, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Sudan, aiming to end the neglect of three skin-NTDs, podoconiosis, mycetoma and scabies, through bringing the social sciences to bear on these conditions. Gem has a broad-based social science background and takes a practical anthropological approach, bringing social science on pressing global health issues together with creative methods and outputs, spanning non-specialist and interdisciplinary audiences. Her current work uses anthropological methods to explore how skin-NTD policymaking happens. Previous work involved ethnography of everyday life within a Kenyan Health and Demographic surveillance site during scale up of HIV care and treatment. She is co-author of creative handbook of tools to help global health workers talk about uncomfortable ethical dilemmas when doing research and intervention across inequalities. Gem @jachunya Elizabeth Sutherland received her doctorate in Maternal and Child Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in program evaluation and implementation science research for more than 15 years and has worked in a wide variety of health areas. Dr. Sutherland is currently employed at RTI International, serving as the Evaluation and Research advisor for the Act to End NTDs | East project. Prof. Maggie Baker is an associate professor in the Department of Global Health at Georgetown University in the USA. The daughter of Scottish parents, she was born and grew up in Lima, Peru. Her research focuses on increasing access to infectious disease programs, including for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). She takes an implementation science approach, using multidisciplinary approaches, and is highly published. With over twenty years of global health experience, she has also worked at RTI International (most recently as the technical director of USAID’s large Act to End NTDs | East program, focused on supporting countries in Africa, Asia, and Haiti), with the UK government, and has spent five years embedded within the national government lymphatic filariasis program teams in Vanuatu and the Dominican Republic.
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  • Using Outcome Harvesting to evaluate NTD programs
    In this episode we hear from Geordie Woods from Sightsavers and Mack Giancola on how they used a participatory evaluation approach called: Outcome Harvesting to evaluate the Accelerate trachoma elimination programme. Full speaker bios: Mack Giancola has 15+ years of experience as an educator, public health leader, and evaluation consultant.  He specializes in participatory evaluation approaches like outcome harvesting by combining qualitative and quantitative approaches with facilitation and sense-making.    He is currently wrapping up his dissertation at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, School of Public Health Leadership.  Geordie Woods is a technical advisor on neglected tropical diseases for Sightsavers, focusing on social and behavior change communication and the integration of water hygiene and sanitation programing into NTDs programs. He works with multiple organizations across these sectors, spearheading innovative partnerships. His areas of expertise include strategic communication design, mass media and community mobilization, and advocacy. Geordie was a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea and worked subsequently for years in West Africa with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has an MPH from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Additional Resources: Sightsaver's Accelerate trachoma elimination programme Key facts on Trachoma from the WHO Outcomeharvesting.net Betterevaluation.org
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  • Let's focus on focus group discussions
    This episode of the Last Mile Podcast will discuss how to conduct a successful focus group discussion with Dr. Doris Njomo from the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and Naomi Caplan and Dr. Mekuriaw Alemayehu from the NALA foundation. Here you will find the link to the Beyond MDA report that is discussed in the podcast: https://www.nalafoundation.org/_files/ugd/50e284_2a0cef39ca2745c1a38fd3d16bc277a3.pdf Here is a link to a quick guide on focus groups: https://www.ichords.org/ichords-research-methods-series-focus-group-discussion/ Full Speaker Bios: Dr. Doris Njomo is a Principal Research Scientist in the area of social and behavioural studies at Kenya Medical Research Institute. Amongst other researchers, she has been conducting implementation research studies for Preventive Chemotherapy NTDs using mixed methods approach for over 15 years and has published several manuscripts and mentored postgraduate students on qualitative research methods. Naomi Caplan is the Head of Learning & Innovation at NALA. Previously a teacher, her interest in addressing the root causes of poverty led her to pursue a career in public health. With an MSEd and MPH, she now oversees NALA’s educational arm, which includes designing assessments that inform, evaluate, and amplify the work. Dr. Mekuriaw Alemayehu holds a PhD in public health, focused on visceral leishmaniasis and co-infection with HIV. He is currently a project manager for NALA Foundation as well as a postgraduate director and principal investigator of different projects at Gondar University in Ethiopia. Mekuriaw has 13 years of experience working with governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the WHO.
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  • Exploring Rapid Ethnography to Improve Community Programs
    In this episode, we will be learning about Rapid Ethnography to get a better understanding of how this kind of research methodology can help us control and eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases. To help us navigate this topic, we have brought on two special guests, Dr. Padmalochan Biswal and Dr. Satyabrata Routray. Podcast Guests Dr. Padmalochan Biswal Dr. Satyabrata Routray. Podcast Host(s) Dr. Alison Krentel Podcast Narrator and Producer: Leshawn Benedict
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About The Last Mile

We increasingly need the social and behavioural sciences to help us achieve the goals outlined in the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) roadmap and particularly ‘the last miles’ of NTD elimination and control. Join us as we interview guests from across the NTD community, hearing their stories, and how the work they are doing contributes to the last miles of NTD elimination and control.
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