Network articles from September 2003

Network archives from September 2003

No evidence OCs cause weight gain.(News Briefs)
September 22, 2003... There is no evidence that oral contraceptives (OCs) cause weight gain, according to an FHI-conducted review of 39 clinical trials of women using this effective method of family planning. The review, published in late April 2003 in the Cochrane...

Why women stop using Norplant.(News Briefs)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2003... Four specific menstrual disturbances are associated with the risk that women will request early removal of Norplant, an FHI analysis has shown. The analysis of more than 3,400 Norplant users from 11 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin...

In memoriam.(Obituary)
September 22, 2003... We are sad to note the passing of Dr. Ezra Teri, special advisor for reproductive health and family planning programs in FHI's Nairobi, Kenya, office from February 2001 until his death on May 7, 2003, at the age of 57. At the time of his...

Introduction: moving research into practice: FHI initiative seeks to bridge the gap between findings and their use.
September 22, 2003... Public health research is not an end in itself; rather, it is intended to generate knowledge that can be used to improve service delivery, policies, and practices. Many research findings are available to inform health services, yet a gap exists...

Identifying worthy medical research.
September 22, 2003... Each year, some 25,000 biomedical journals publish millions of articles. Abstracts from more than 12 million of these articles are already archived and free through PubMed (http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/Pubmed) to anyone in the world with an...

Quality of evidence of effectiveness.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2003... The quality of evidence of the effectiveness of interventions that address unresolved health issues is increasingly being systematically reviewed and graded, yielding more specific recommendations for various clinical practices. Criteria...

How are 'best practices' identified and adopted?
September 22, 2003... Many organizations are collaborating to improve reproductive health programs worldwide by identifying and encouraging the use of "best practices." But what is a best practice? Best practices can range from specific training techniques or...

Pivotal points of change: various factors can facilitate or hinder research utilization.
September 22, 2003... KEY POINTS * Straightforward research findings can speed changes in clinical practices. * Research findings that are extensively disseminated are most likely to be used. * Political support for and timeliness of research findings...

Nevirapine results quickly put into practice.
September 22, 2003... A randomized controlled trial conducted in the late 1990s in Kampala, Uganda, (1) helped to create--at an unprecedented pace--a standard for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the developing world. The rate of HIV...

Community-based distribution project expands beyond Mali.
September 22, 2003... An operations research project to introduce community-based distribution (CBD) of contraceptives into two rural areas of Mali has expanded to thousands of Malian villages and has been replicated in at least six countries. This is also an...

IUD insertion by nurse-midwives increases use.
September 22, 2003... Over a 15-year period, intrauterine device (IUD) prevalence more than doubled in Turkey after recommendations from a collaborative operations research effort influenced ratification in 1983 of the national family planning law that, among other...

A single-visit approach for cervical cancer prevention.
September 22, 2003... The recent demonstration of the safety and acceptability of a single-visit approach for cervical cancer prevention in rural Thailand emphasizes the importance of having appropriate resources and infrastructure to implement research findings....

'Rehabilitating' the IUD: Initiative in Kenya is a potential model for activities to promote research utilization for better services.
September 22, 2003... KEY POINTS * Ministry of Health commitment greatly facilitates IUD reintroduction. * Strong partnerships with professional organizations are key to integration of IUD services into existing programs. * Systematic provider training...

Professional associations are vital partners.
September 22, 2003... Fostering strong partnerships with key implementing and policy organizations is a key goal of the initiative to reintroduce the intrauterine device (IUD) in Kenya. The initiative is also building bridges to as many other people and...

Good training gives providers confidence to insert IUDs.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2003... That good training builds provider confidence to offer clients IUDs is underscored by the experience of the Family Planning Association of Kenya (FPAK), a private nongovernmental organization that is an affiliate of the International Planned...

Research involving FHI collaboration produces change.
September 22, 2003... FHI has recently participated in three research projects that are changing contraceptive service provision and recommendations. * Vasectomy: Interim results from a sevencountry vasectomy study by FHI and New York-based EnganderHealth have...

Is your research improving health services?
September 22, 2003... Evaluating the impact of health research is an essential component of efforts to put research into practice. Donors and policy-makers are often not satisfied with research results alone. Increasingly, they are asking, "So what? What is the...

YouthLens: research that guides reproductive health efforts for youth.
September 22, 2003... Youth's reproductive health needs are increasingly urgent: While most young people become sexually active before the age of 20, few use reliable contraception and many are at risk of unplanned pregnancy. Meanwhile, up to half of all new HIV...

Improving health services.(Resources)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2003... Management Sciences for Health (MSH), based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, is offering two health resources: * Management Strategies for Improving Health Services: A Compendium of "The Manager" Series presents strategies and techniques for...

Access to new research findings.(Resources)(Brief Article)
September 22, 2003... A new on-line service offers access to research findings relevant to the international family planning guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). The service, Continuous Identification of Research Evidence (CIRE), notifies professionals...

Research utilization web resources.(Resources)(Bibliography)
September 22, 2003... Many Web sites around the world exist to help researchers and policy-makers better understand the process of bringing research to practice: http://www.researchtopolicy.ca The Program in Policy Decision-Making at McMaster University in...