Impacts of Reading for Ethiopia’s Achievement Developed Community Outreach Project Intervention on Students’ Oral Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, and Academic Achievements

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of Reading for Ethiopia’s Achievement Developed Community Outreach (READ CO) project intervention on students’ oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, academic achievements, and listening comprehension. It also aimed at identifying the students and teachers’ awareness and practices about the READ CO project interventions. Experimental research—Posttest-only control group—design was employed for the study, which is mainly quantitative, but also uses qualitative techniques (latent content analysis). The results were analyzed using t tests and econometrics analysis mainly. Questionnaires and observations were also developed and employed as other tools among the experimental group principals and language teachers in the school to investigate the overall practice. The results from quantitative data analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the posttest performance of the study group and the control group for reading comprehension, academic achievements, and listening comprehension, yet oral reading fluency is significant. The result from questionnaire and observation also showed that the project has not been found to have a positive impact on students reading performance or improvement. Finally, it was mainly recommended that practical training and real service should be given for the targeted schools on how to improve and implement reading practices via the project.

Role of safe space in improving menstrual awareness and menstrual hygiene practices among adolescents in Zamfara: a case study of REACH project intervention

Background: Menstrual awareness and hygiene practices have been a challenge for adolescent girls in African countries and Nigeria inclusive which subsequently affects their health, and wellbeing. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of REACH project intervention in improving knowledge and practice of menstrual care among adolescent girls.Methods: A post-test only non-equivalent groups quasi-experimental design was adopted with Kaura Namoda and Talata Mafara as the intervention Local Government Authorities (LGAs) and Bungudu and Maru as the control LGAs conducted between August 2021 to October 2021. Quantitative approach was employed using self-developed questionnaire for data collection. Multi-stage sampling technique was used. A total of 400 questionnaires were administered with 200 each for control and intervention LGAs.Results: The result of the study shows that, adolescents in the REACH Project intervention communities have higher level of awareness and more likely to practice menstrual hygiene as compared to non-REACH intervention communities. Therefore, it is recommended that, safe space strategies should be adopted in any matters related to adolescents sexual and reproductive health.Conclusions: Safe space is effective in improving adolescents sexual and reproductive health.

Designing an integrated, nurse-driven and home-based digital intervention to improve insulin management in under-resourced settings

Background: In South Africa, initiating insulin for people with type 2 diabetes and subsequent titration is a major challenge for the resource-constrained healthcare system. Inadequate support systems in primary care, including not being able to access blood glucose monitors and test strips for self-monitoring of blood glucose, results in patients with type 2 diabetes being referred to higher levels of care. In primary care, initiation of insulin may be delayed due to a shortage of healthcare workers. The delayed initiation of insulin is also exacerbated by the reported resistance of both healthcare providers and people with type 2 diabetes to start insulin. In South Africa, telehealth provides an opportunity to overcome these challenges and manage insulin therapy in primary care. Methods: We describe the development of a digital health intervention including the framework used, the theoretical approach and subsequent implementation strategies. Results: This intervention is an innovative, nurse-driven and app-enabled intervention called ‘the Tshwane Insulin Project intervention’. The Tshwane Insulin Project intervention was designed and evaluated using the framework recommended by the Medical Research Council for complex interventions. The Tshwane Insulin Project intervention was developed in four sequential phases: planning, design, implementation and evaluation. The Tshwane Insulin Project intervention followed the Integrated Chronic Disease Management framework to facilitate implementation and acceptability. The Tshwane Insulin Project comprises a facility-level intervention, where nurses evaluate patients and initiate insulin, an individual-level intervention where community healthcare workers visit patients at their homes to follow-up and provide educational information, while using telehealth to enable physician-directed insulin titration if needed, and a community-level intervention aimed at empowering community healthcare workers to support people living with diabetes and raise awareness of diabetes. Conclusion: The technological advancements in digital health and telemedicine present an opportunity to improve diabetes care in resource-limited countries. This work can inform those intending to develop and implement complex interventions in primary healthcare in developing countries.

Putting Theory of Change into Use in Complex Settings

This paper argues that theory of change can be used to help stakeholders in agricultural research for development projects collectively agree on problems and visions of success. This helps them feel greater ownership for their project, motivation to achieve outcomes, and understanding of how to do so. However, the dynamic is damaged if projects are pushed to be too specific too early about the outcomes for which they are to be held accountable. This is most likely to happen when system response to project intervention is uncertain, as opposed to projects that work with existing pathways and partnerships where the role of research is well established.

The intervention of Rural Enterprise Development Hub Project on Maize Production in Mqanduli: The Implication on Food Security Status of Maize Farmers

The research analyzed the impact of the Rural Enterprise Development Hub Project (RED Hub Project) on food security of maize farmers. The data were analyzed using both inferential and descriptive statistics. Values were considered to be significant statistically where the P-value was less than 0.05. The study reveals a significant average increase in annual yield from 39.52 bags (50kg) to 87.02 bags (50kg) with a percentage increase of 120.19% per maize farm (t-statistics of 32.7 t-value and p-value of <0.05). Also, none of the maize farmers were food secure before the RED Hub project, 1 (0.5%) were mildly food insecure, 97 (48.5%) were averagely food insecure, and 102 (51%) were critically food insecure. After the RED Hub project intervention, 3.5% (7) are food secure, 104 (52%) are mildly food insecure, 76 (38%) are averagely food insecure and 13 (6.5%) critically food insecure. There was also more access and affordability of other food to meet maize farmers’ nutritional needs after the project intervention. An average of 72.5 (29.2%) beneficiaries and 99.3 (47.6%) beneficiaries respectively had access to other foods to meet their nutritional needs before and after the project intervention.