Background
Methods
Study design
Study setting
Study procedures
Data analysis
Ethical considerations
Results
Description of the reproductive health research protocols and participants’ characteristics
Activities undertaken to promote utilization of research findings
“We have fact sheets, one pager per topic, so that at a glance someone can get the messages. During disseminations we had face tools and wind banners with messages so that they are visible and they catch eyes. We had great media coverage, the dailies reported on this dissemination seminar and people got to know about some of these findings from there.” (KII009)“One [study] was published in Social Science and Medicine and another one is in Sexually Transmitted Infections [Journal] and then in this field we also developed a review paper which was not only based on this study but rather partner notification in developing country settings. That was the kind of title that I published in BMC and we also developed a research brief from this partner notification study…” (Focus Group Discussion 001)
“As you can see my 3 to 4 years previous works but you can't see the dissemination that I gave in the 3 years. And scientific papers obviously will have some scientific value for one’s career because these policy briefs have little weight on your career as a researcher…. These are not counted as scientific papers. So researchers are less interested in developing policy briefs, they would be more interested to write and publish papers.” (KII002)
Utilization of research findings
Scaling up interventions
“… for the misoprostol one [Scaling up the use of misoprostol for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage study], findings were incorporated into the health system plans, both the operational one and the government has taken it up and has been scaling up in the 3 districts. So they have started the scaling up efforts in phases. They have also initiated the process to buy the tablet; they have allocated the money and have initiated the process to buy. Its moving it's not happening fast but it is happening.” (KII012)
Generating new evidence and service delivery
“We just completed another study on injecting drug users and some of which was in that area and we are evaluating the ongoing outreach services and the services are being provided by Save the Children for the drug users” (KII008)
“As a result of the [Injecting Drug Users Dhaka City Study], service delivery was enhanced, we provided services in two shifts for seven days a week, so we intensified the programme and that has really helped.” (KII013)
Case studies on processes of research utilization
Case study 1. Scaling up the use of misoprostol for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage in Bangladesh | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics of the study | Factors that could have contributed to research utilization | Activities to promote utilization | Utilization of research findings | Policy contribution | |||||
Study/Authors/years | Study design/ population | Main findings | Research Process (Problem identification) | Stakeholder involvement | Communication Process | Macro-contextual factors | |||
Md Abdul Quaiyum et al. 2014 [28] | Quasi experimental study design | The community acceptability of misoprostol tablets for the prevention of PPH reduced volume of blood loss after child birth | Literature review | Researchers/scientists of icddr,b | Dissemination workshops at international, national and community levels | Commitment from political parties | Seminars and dissemination workshops | Scaling up the use of misoprostol, and its inclusion into Essential Drug List (EDL) of Bangladesh | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and other key agencies committed to integrate misoprostol use into government policies and plans |
Women residing in the Abhoynagar sub district of Bangladesh | The delivery mat and pad were found to be useful for mothers as tools for assessing the amount of blood loss after delivery and informing care seeking decisions. | Conducted phased trial | Obstetric Gynecology Society of Bangladesh (OGSB) | Published in peer reviewed journals | Misoprostol was included in the program of activities for community health workers and family welfare agents | ||||
Government Departments - DGHS, Drug Administration | Provided technical assistance | ||||||||
NGOs-BRAC, Pathfinder International, Engender Health, UN Agencies | |||||||||
Researcher’s efforts to promote utilization of study findings
| |||||||||
“We took a temporary permission from the Drug Administration of Bangladesh to conduct the research and subsequently, after we found that it is effective and useful for prevention of PPH and in collaboration with the drug companies and the pharmaceutical licensure of Bangladesh we requested them to extend the registration of the use of misoprostol for the prevention of PPH and we informed them that we will provide all the papers and any technical assistance they need and they did it and now misoprostol is registered in Bangladesh for use of in the prevention of PPH and that’s happened because of our research findings” (KII001)
| |||||||||
Case study 2. Enactment of the Bangladesh Domestic Relations Bill 2010 | |||||||||
Characteristics of the study | Factors that could have contributed to research utilization | Activities to promote utilization | Utilization of research findings | Policy contribution | |||||
Study/Authors/years | Study design/ population | Main findings | Research Process (Problem identification) | Stakeholder involvement | Communication Process | Macro-contextual factors | |||
Asling-Monemi K, Tabassum Naved R, Perrsson LA, 2008 [31] | Secondary analysis of longitudinal data from rural Bangladesh of 2691 live-born children in relation to their mother's experience of physical, sexual and emotional partner violence and level of controlling behaviour in marriage. | Under five-mortality was 88 per 1000 in this cohort. | Conducted an exploratory study | Networks of women activists: | Dissemination seminars, Workshops | Political System is not gender sensitive | Published in peer reviewed journals | Advocacy | Research provided essential information to policy makers and human rights groups and reinforced the need for Bangladesh to introduce legislation to address domestic violence |
Severe physical violence and controlling behaviour in marriage were associated with higher under-five mortality among daughters of educated mothers in rural Bangladesh, indicating gender-based consequences of partner violence for child mortality. | Naripako, Citizen’s Initiative against Domestic Violence, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs | Published papers, Printed reports | Provided technical assistance | Enactment of Bangladesh DRB 2010 | The parliament of Bangladesh passed the Domestic Violence (Protection and Prevention) Act 2010 | ||||
Joined advocacy network negotiated and lobbied | |||||||||
Engaged the media | |||||||||
Held one-on-one meetings | |||||||||
Produced wind banners | |||||||||
Researcher’s efforts to promote utilization of study findings
| |||||||||
“So what I was able to do was to sort of guide them in that, fine tuning the focus, and then provide input in defining different forms of violence which was not possible for them, because for the bill you have to get them pinned down. So that was the contribution from icddr,b based on our research”. (KII009)
| |||||||||
Case study 3. Provision of outreach services to injecting drug users | |||||||||
Characteristics of the study | Factors that could have contributed to research utilization | Activities to promote utilization | Utilization of research findings | Policy contribution | |||||
Study/Authors/years | Study design/ population | Main findings | Research Process (Problem identification) | Stakeholder involvement | Communication Process | Macro-contextual factors | |||
Tasnim Azim, Najmul Hussein and Robert Kelly [30] | Cohort study design | HIV prevalence still low in Bangladesh | Analysis of surveillance data | NGOs who were working with the drug users- CARE Bangladesh | Regular small meetings with the NGO | Harassment & violence against IDUs, Discrimination, Criminalization of IDUs | Held one on one meetings | Awareness creation among government officials, Provision of more services by NGOs | Strong government and NGO support for both serological and behavioral surveillance as demonstrated through the use of data to build national programmes |
Approximately 500 injecting Drug Users (IDUs) under CARE’s Needle/Syringe Exchange Programme (NEP) | Migration is a major source of new infections | Dissemination seminars | Published in peer reviewed journals | Advocacy for provision of oral substitution therapy | |||||
Deeply held cultural norms regarding acceptable behaviour, reluctance to use condoms and gender issues are major constrain to reducing the risk of an epidemic | Published in journals | Provided technical assistance | |||||||
Interventions that are both effective and culturally acceptable to address the needs of the migrants are still absent. | Presentations at international and regional seminars. | ||||||||
Researcher’s efforts to promote utilization of study findings
| |||||||||
“As a result of this, we could also advocate for providing oral substitution therapy. .... the data from this study gave us the ammunition to go to the department of NARCOTICS Control that we definitely need to bring in oral drugs so that these people can stop injecting.” (KII008)
|
“We took a temporary permission from the Drug Administration of Bangladesh to conduct the research and subsequently, after we found that it is effective and useful for prevention of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) and in collaboration with the drug companies and the Pharmaceutical Licensure of Bangladesh we requested them to extend the registration of the use of misoprostol for the prevention of PPH. We informed them that we will provide all the papers and any technical assistance you need and they did it and now misoprostol is registered in Bangladesh for use in the prevention of PPH and that’s happened because of our research findings.” KII001“So what I was able to do was to sort of guide them in fine tuning the focus, and then provide input in defining different forms of violence which was not possible for them, because for the bill you have to get them [forms of violence] pinned down. So that was the contribution from icddr,b based on our research.” KII009
“…icddr,b if they want their results implemented in the public sector they should involve the government from the very beginning…maybe in a smaller role, the appropriate government person would be involved and that is lacking.” (KII012)