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Strengthen the Evidence for Maternal and Child Health Programs

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Items in this list may be obtained from the sources cited. Contact information reflects the most current data about the source that has been provided to the MCH Digital Library.

Displaying records 1 through 20 (59 total).

World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 2023. Improving the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents : Guidance on scheduled child and adolescent well-care visits . Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 95 pp.

Annotation: This World Health Organization and UNICEF guidance document outlines a comprehensive framework for delivering scheduled well-care visits for children and adolescents from birth through age 19. It details minimum recommended schedules and content for 17 routine visits aligned with developmental transitions, providing health providers and program managers with specific guidance on assessment, monitoring, counseling, and preventive interventions at each age. The document includes detailed age-specific priorities and activities for health promotion, disease prevention, and early identification of children and families needing additional support, while emphasizing linkages across health, education and other sectors to maximize opportunities for promoting child and adolescent wellbeing. [Funded by the United States Agency for International Development]

Keywords: Adolescent health, Child health, Guidelines, International programs, Preventive health services, Well child care

National Birth Defects Prevention Network. 2017. World Birth Defects Day. Houston, TX: National Birth Defects Prevention Network, multiple items.

Collective Impact Forum. 2014–. Initiative directory. Boston, MA: Collective Impact Forum, multiple items.

Annotation: This website provides information about initiatives that are using the collective impact approach to address social and environmental problems. Users can search for existing initiatives by state/locality, social issue, region, and country. Users can also create a page to highlight the work they are doing; submit information about their progress; hold discussions; and share reports, photos, news, and more.

Keywords: Collaboration, Communities, Community action, Community programs, Directories, Interdisciplinary approach, International programs, Local initiatives, National initiatives, Networking, Problem solving, Social interaction, State initiatives, Teamwork

Carroll L, Perez MM, Taylor RM, rapporteurs; Institute of Medicine, Forum on Global Violence Prevention; National Research Council. 2014. The evidence for violence prevention across the lifespan and around the world: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 148 pp.

American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, Peers for Progress; National Council of La Raza. 2014. Peer support in health: Evidence to action–An expert panel of the National Peer Support Collaborative Learning Network. Leawood, KS: American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, Peers for Progress, 47 pp.

Annotation: This report summarizes discussions from a national conference held on November 12–13, 2013, in Washington, DC, to discuss current strengths and future needs in the field of peer support. Contents include key findings, background and review of the evidence, and key features of peer support. Topics include conceptual and strategic issues, program development, evaluation of peer support, organizational and system issues, and program sustainability. Recommendations and areas for future work are included.

Keywords: Access to health care, Community based services, Community health aides, Conference proceedings, Evaluation, Evidence based medicine, Financing, Health care delivery, International programs, Model programs, Peer counseling, Peer education, Peer groups, Peer support programs, Program development, Program improvement, Public health infrastructure, Public health programs, Quality assurance, Service delivery systems, Service integration, Sustainability, Systems development

World Health Organization. 2014. Health for the world's adolescents: A second chance for the second decade. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, exec. summ. (14 pp.).

Annotation: This online multimedia report provides an overview of the progress made between the World Health Assembly Resolution on the Health of Youth in 1989 and the 2011 World Health Assembly Resolution on Youth and Health Risks. It includes World Health Organization recommendations on policies and programs that respond to priority health problems during adolescence, and reflects achievements in developing the evidence base for action. Topics include access to information, opportunities to develop life skills, health services, safe and supportive environments, and participation in programming.

Keywords: Access to care, Adolescents, Health services, Information sources, International health, International programs, International services, Life skills, Multimedia, Participation, Safety, Social support

Safe Kids Worldwide. 2014. Changing the culture of youth sports. Washington, DC: Safe Kids Worldwide, 23 pp.

Annotation: This report presents findings from a survey of athletes in grades 7-10, coaches of athletes in grades 7-10, and parents with children who play sports in grades 1-10 about sports injuries and what is being done to keep young athletes safe while playing sports. The report provides information on sports injuries in children, players who play injured, injuries resulting from foul play, and opportunities to improve coaches' knowledge and skills. Tips on sports safety are also included.

Keywords: Athletes, Child safety, Children, Injury prevention, International health, International programs, Program improvement, Recreational safety, Risk taking, Safety programs, Sports equipment, Sports injuries, Team sports

World Health Organization, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health; World Bank; and Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. 2014. Success factors for women's and children's health: Policy and programme highlights from 10 fast-track countries . Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, 48 pp.

Save the Children. 2013. Surviving the first day: State of the world's mothers 2013. Westport, CT: Save the Children, annual.

Annotation: This report looks at the first days of life, when mothers and newborns face threats to survival, and highlights approaches that are working to bring essential heath care to hard-to-reach places where most deaths occur. The report also demonstrates how more lives can be saved with additional funding. Topic include progress over the past two decades, why newborns die, the most dangerous places to be born, the continuum of care for mothers and newborns, funding and need, and how to take action.

Keywords: Developing countries, Financing, Health care, High risk infants, High risk mothers, Infant death, Infant mortality, International health, Newborn infants, Poverty, Prevention programs, Rural population, Trends

Hernandez LM; Institute of Medicine, Roundtable on Health Literacy. 2013. Health literacy: Improving health, health systems, and health policy around the world—Workshop summary. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 218 pp.

Annotation: This book provides presentations and discussions from a workshop on international health literacy efforts. Presentation topics include international health literacy efforts; different health literacy perspectives; public-private partnerships for health literacy; national policies and programs promoting health literacy; local health literacy innovations; and future directions, including conceptualizing health literacy, research and measures, and improving health literacy programs and policies.

Keywords: Conference proceedings, Health literacy, International health, Local programs, Programs, Public policy, Research

Winthrop R, Matsui E. 2013. A new agenda for education in fragile states. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, Center for Universal Education, 70 pp. (Working paper; no. 10)

Annotation: This report presents a broad review of the field of education in fragile states and charts an agenda for maximizing education's contribution to the development and well-being of people living in these contexts. Topics include reasons for investing in education in fragile contexts, the global response to education in fragile states, four challenges for the field of education and fragility, education's low policy priority at the national and global levels, education's financing level and modalities, and education outcomes and quality learning including it's influence on physical and psychosocial health. The report concludes with a discussion of the need to scale up the field's vision, policy prioritization, financing, attention to quality, and investments. The appendices contain a description of frameworks and actors and a summary of education sector plans addressing disaster/conflict risk reduction.

Keywords: Developing countries, Development, Disaster planning, Education, Environmental influences, Financing, International programs, Learning, Public policy, Risk factors

Heisler EJ. 2012. The U.S. infant mortality rate: International comparisons, underlying factors, and federal programs. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 30 pp.

Annotation: This report examines the high U.S. infant mortality rate (IMR) relative to other developed countries and efforts to reduce the IMR. The report identifies a number of causes of U.S. infant mortality but focuses on low birthweight and short-gestational-age births because the United States has relatively high and increasing rates of these births and research has found that these births can be reduced through policy interventions.The report first examines international IMR comparisons and discusses geographic variation in state IMRs. Next, the report examines mothers' demographic characteristics and various health system characteristics that may influence the U.S. IMR. The report then describes a number of federal programs that may indirectly reduce the IMR. Finally, the report summarizes federal initiatives included in the Affordable Care Act that may reduce infant mortality.

Keywords: Federal programs, Gestational age, Health care reform, Infant mortality, International health, Legislation, Low birthweight, Program improvement, Research, Statistics

Save the Children. 2012. Nutrition in the first 1,000 days: State of the world's mothers 2012. Westport, CT: Save the Children, 70 pp.

Annotation: This report provides information about which countries are doing the best—and the worst—at providing nutrition beginning during pregnancy and continuing through a child's second birthday. The report looks at six low-cost nutritional solutions, including breastfeeding, that have the potential to save lives, and discusses the affordability of these solutions. Also discussed are the global malnutrition crisis and why the first 1,000 days of a child's life are particularly important in terms of nutrition.

Keywords: Breastfeeding, Child death, Child health, Child nutrition, Child nutrition programs, Costs, Developing countries, Financing, Infant death, Infant health, Infant nutrition, International health, Maternal nutrition, Maternal nutrition programs, Nutrition, Pregnancy, Prevention, Public policy, Reproductive health, Women's health

White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. [2011]. Partnerships for the common good: A partnership guide for faith-based and neighborhood organizations. Washington, DC: White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, 71 pp.

Annotation: This guide. which is geared toward local faith and community leaders, presents opportunities to form partnerships with Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships across government, as well as information about how to apply for federal grants and access capacity-building resources. The guide addresses the following issue areas: adoption, disasters, education, responsible fatherhood, environmentally friendly buildings, healthy children and families, housing opportunities, hunger and nutrition, international relief and development, jobs, veterans and military families, and volunteerism.

Keywords: Adoption, Child health, Collaboration, Communities, Disaster planning, Education, Employment, Environment, Families, Fathers, Federal programs, Grants, Housing, Hunger, International health, Manuals, Military, Nutrition, Religious organizations, Volunteers

World Health Organization. 2011. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, irregular.

Annotation: This report tracks the status of the tobacco epidemic and the impact of interventions implemented to stop it. Contents include the World Health Organization's framework convention on tobacco control, along with guidelines for implementation. Topics include monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies, protecting from tobacco smoke, offering help to quit tobacco use, warning about the dangers of tobacco, health warning labels, and anti-tobacco mass media campaigns. The appendices contain global tobacco control policy data, country profiles, graphs on tobacco taxes and prices, age-standardized prevalence estimates for smoking, country-provided prevalence data, Global Youth Tobacco Survey data, and maps on global tobacco control and policy data. Information is presented in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, and Russian.

Keywords: Asian language materials, Costs, Data, Health policy, International health, International programs, Non English language materials, Prevalence, Spanish language materials, Taxes, Tobacco use

Ergo A, Eichler R, Koblinsky M, Shah N. 2011. Strengthening health systems to improve maternal, neonatal and child health outcomes: A framework. Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development, Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program, 25 pp.

Annotation: This paper proposes a framework that positions international maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) interventions within the broader health system. The framework presents a structure to organize information and assess how various health systems-strengthening initiatives might operate within a health system to cause changes that result in improved MNCH. Contents include a brief review of concepts and definitions, an overview of existing health systems frameworks, and a description of the proposed framework's elements and a discussion of its potential applications. The elements and applications are illustrated using a case study conducted in Malawi.

Keywords: Assessment, Child health, Early intervention, Health care systems, International health, MCH programs, Maternal health, Newborn infants, Program improvement, Quality assurance, Service integration, Systems development

Maurice J. 2009. State of the world's vaccines and immunization (3rd. ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; New York, NY: UNICEF, 169 pp.

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2009. The U.S. and global maternal and child health. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2 pp.

Ray R, Gornick JC, Schmitt J. 2008. Parental leave policies in 21 countries: Assessing generosity and gender equality. Washington, DC: Center for Economic Policy and Research, 22 pp.

Annotation: This report reviews the major national policies of 21 high-income economies as of June 2008. The report focuses on two aspects of parental leave policies: (1) the level of support provided to parents and (2) the degree to which leave policies promote an egalitarian distribution between mothers and fathers of the time devoted to child care. The report concludes with best practices culled from the 21 national experiences.

Keywords: Child care, Families, Family leave, Fathers, International programs, Model programs, Mothers, Parental leave, Public policy, Working parents

Center for Reproductive Rights. 2008. Bringing rights to bear: Preventing maternal mortality and ensuring safe pregnancy—Government duties to ensure pregnant women's survival and health. [New York, NY]: Center for Reproductive Rights, 35 pp. (Briefing paper)
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The MCH Library is one of six special collections at Georgetown University, the nation's oldest Jesuit institution of higher education. The library is supported through foundation, private, university, state, and federal funding. This information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by Georgetown University or the U.S. Government. Note: web pages whose development was supported by federal government grants are being reviewed to comply with applicable Executive Orders.