The potential of family members to serve as mediators of learning from television has received increasing amounts of attention in the literature. At the same time, the involvement of parents in their children's viewing has been found to be low. Using sample episodes from an ethnographic research study, this article describes several types of family mediation that have not been emphasized in the literature: contextual mediation, informal verbal mediation that occurs outside of the viewing situation, and mediation by families' organization in time and space. The authors suggest that ethnography can contribute to our understanding of the mediation of television by the family by documenting mediational influences that are unintentional, nonverbal, or occur at times other than during viewing.
Abstract Background The foundation of recommended diarrhea management in young children is increased fluids and continued feeding. This increase in fluids is necessary to replace those lost during diarrhea and ultimately prevent dehydration. There may be an opportunity to prevent deaths in children under five by discouraging the practice of reducing or curtailing fluids during diarrhea episodes across different settings worldwide. Methods We quantify and describe the extent of fluid curtailment in children with diarrhea in a selection of countries (Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda) with high burden of diarrhea-related mortality with national cross sectional survey data. We examine the practice of fluid curtailment in these countries and its relationship to child and household traits and to characteristics of diarrhea management. Results The prevalence of fluid curtailment among children under five with diarrhea is strikingly high in these countries: 55 % in Nigeria, 49 % in Ethiopia, 44 % in Uganda, 37 % in Tanzania, 36 % in DR Congo and 32 % in Burkina Faso. Fluid curtailment is associated with giving less food, potentially worsening the impact of this harmful practice. Children who were reported to have had fluids curtailed during diarrhea episodes were also 3.51 (95 % confidence, 2.66 - 4.64) times more likely to be reported to have food withheld (α = 0.05; p < 0.001). Children who received care from non-governmental providers, and those who were breastfed were more likely to have their fluids curtailed, as were children with an unimproved water source. Children of poorer or less educated mothers and those living in rural areas are more likely to have curtailed fluids, compared to children of less poor or more educated mothers, or those living in urban areas. Conclusions The harmful practice of curtailing fluids for a child with diarrhea is highly prevalent, representing an increased risk of dehydration and complications due to diarrhea, including death, especially for children in specific subgroups.
Abstract Background National community-based health worker (CBHW) programs often face challenges in ensuring that these remote workers are adequately trained, equipped and supervised. As governments increasingly deploy CBHWs to improve access to primary health care, there is an urgent need to assess how well health systems are supporting CBHWs to provide high quality care. Methods This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods assessment of selected health systems supports (supervision, drug supply, and job aids) for a national community case management (CCM) program for childhood illness in Malawi during the first year of implementation. We collected data on the types and levels of drug supply and supervision through a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) providing CCM services in six districts. We then conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with program managers and HSAs, respectively, to gain an understanding of the barriers and facilitating factors for delivering health systems supports for CCM. Results Although the CCM training and job aid were well received by stakeholders, HSAs who participated in the first CCM training sessions often waited up to 4 months before receiving their initial supply of drugs and first supervision visits. One year after training began, 69% of HSAs had all essential CCM drugs in stock and only 38% of HSAs reported a CCM supervision visit in the 3 months prior to the survey. Results of the qualitative assessment indicated that drug supply was constrained by travel distance and stock outs at health facilities, and that the initial supervision system relied on clinicians who were able to spend only limited time away from clinical duties. Proactive district managers trained and enrolled HSAs' routine supervisors to provide CCM supervision. Conclusions Malawi's CCM program is promising, but health systems supports must be improved to ensure consistent coverage and quality. Mixed-methods implementation research provided the Ministry of Health with actionable feedback that it is using to adapt program policies and improve performance.
BACKGROUND: Several years in advance of the 2015 endpoint for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Malawi was already thought to be one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa likely to meet the MDG 4 target of reducing under-5 mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. Countdown to 2015 therefore selected the Malawi National Statistical Office to lead an in-depth country case study, aimed mainly at explaining the country's success in improving child survival. METHODS: We estimated child and neonatal mortality for the years 2000-14 using five district-representative household surveys. The study included recalculation of coverage indicators for that period, and used the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) to attribute the child lives saved in the years from 2000 to 2013 to various interventions. We documented the adoption and implementation of policies and programmes affecting the health of women and children, and developed estimates of financing. FINDINGS: The estimated mortality rate in children younger than 5 years declined substantially in the study period, from 247 deaths (90% CI 234-262) per 1000 livebirths in 1990 to 71 deaths (58-83) in 2013, with an annual rate of decline of 5·4%. The most rapid mortality decline occurred in the 1-59 months age group; neonatal mortality declined more slowly (from 50 to 23 deaths per 1000 livebirths), representing an annual rate of decline of 3·3%. Nearly half of the coverage indicators have increased by more than 20 percentage points between 2000 and 2014. Results from the LiST analysis show that about 280,000 children's lives were saved between 2000 and 2013, attributable to interventions including treatment for diarrhoea, pneumonia, and malaria (23%), insecticide-treated bednets (20%), vaccines (17%), reductions in wasting (11%) and stunting (9%), facility birth care (7%), and prevention and treatment of HIV (7%). The amount of funding allocated to the health sector has increased substantially, particularly to child health and HIV and from external sources, but remains below internationally agreed targets. Key policies to address the major causes of child mortality and deliver high-impact interventions at scale throughout Malawi began in the late 1990s and intensified in the latter half of the 2000s and into the 2010s, backed by health-sector-wide policies to improve women's and children's health. INTERPRETATION: This case study confirmed that Malawi had achieved MDG 4 for child survival by 2013. Our findings suggest that this was achieved mainly through the scale-up of interventions that are effective against the major causes of child deaths (malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea), programmes to reduce child undernutrition and mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and some improvements in the quality of care provided around birth. The Government of Malawi was among the first in sub-Saharan Africa to adopt evidence-based policies and implement programmes at scale to prevent unnecessary child deaths. Much remains to be done, building on this success and extending it to higher proportions of the population and targeting continued high neonatal mortality rates. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO, The World Bank, Government of Australia, Government of Canada, Government of Norway, Government of Sweden, Government of the UK, and UNICEF.
