Global health professors Jan Ostermann and Melissa Watt, recipients of the global maternal, adolescent and child health grants
Published August 18, 2015, last updated on June 3, 2020 under Research News
The Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) has awarded grants for two research projects focused on maternal, adolescent and child health (MACH). One of DGHI’s research priorities, MACH is an emerging field that seeks to reduce mortality and morbidity for preventable and treatable causes.
Through these pilot grants, DGHI is looking to provide funds to stimulate interdisciplinary research in maternal, adolescent and child health, with the larger goal of enabling investigators to leverage preliminary findings and data to obtain larger awards of external funding.
Evaluating the Role of Incentives for Improving Timeliness of Childhood Vaccinations
Each year, vaccinations prevent more than 2.5 million child deaths globally. Vaccinations are a cost-effective strategy for conferring immunity against many preventable diseases, but evidence has shown that children who grow up in socioeconomically-disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be vaccinated late or not at all, compared to children from wealthier families. In countries such as Tanzania, while vaccine coverage rates are relatively high across the country, regional variations exist, and vaccines are not always administered in a timely manner.
To address these issues, global health professor Jan Ostermann and research scholar Lavanya Vasudevan will research local barriers to timely vaccinations and identify an mHealth-assisted incentive structure—including reminders and incentive payments delivered via SMS—that can systematically offset the barriers faced by families with infants. They’ll carry out this work in collaboration with Joy Noel Baumgartner from the DGHI Evidence Lab and partners at Tanzania’s National Institute for Medical Research and the government’s Expanded Programme on Immunisations.
Results will serve as pilot data for future grant proposals to develop and evaluate an mHealth-supported vaccination scheduling, reminder and tracking system, combined with a multi-tiered financial incentive scheme for families with young children to improve timely vaccinations in Tanzania.
Understanding Contraceptive Use by South Africans at Risk for Alcohol-exposed Pregnancies
The Western Cape province of South Africa has one of the highest rates of fetal alcohol syndrome disorders (FASD) in the world. FASD is a cluster of birth defects that results from alcohol exposure in utero, which may lead to premature birth, neonatal death, low birth weight, neurodevelopmental disorders and cognitive and behavioral effects.
Through the pilot grant, global health professor Melissa Watt and her team will build upon their previous research in the region that suggest that bars and taverns in Cape Town may be prime sites for FASD prevention interventions. The team will collaborate with Soraya Seedat, professor of psychiatry at Stellenbosch University.
The main objective of the project is to gain a better understanding of the pregnancy intentions and contraceptive use patterns among women who drink in alcohol-serving venues in Cape Town. Researchers will survey these women and conduct in-depth interviews with a subset to further explore the social norms and barriers that may influence their contraceptive use. Additionally, researchers will assess the availability of contraceptive options and other reproductive health services available in the community.
The findings of this study will inform future research and development of interventions to prevent FASD among high-risk populations. Researchers plan on hosting a community feedback meeting to share preliminary findings with local stakeholders to stimulate discussion of interventions for early prevention of FASD.
Other Duke researchers involved this project include global health professor Kathleen Sikkema, global health doctoral scholar Karmel Choi and research associate Alexis Dennis.
Learn more about the team’s previous research in this area:
• Alcohol Use During Pregnancy in a South African Community: Reconciling Knowledge, Norms, and Personal Experience
• "It's better for me to drink, at least the stress is going away": Perspectives on Alcohol Use during Pregnancy among South African Women Attending Drinking Establishments
Learn more about DGHI’s MACH projects and faculty.
Interested in maternal, adolescent and child health? Consider attending our symposium, Transforming Global Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health: From Research Evidence to Practice and Policy, on September 28.
