WHO/Europe has launched a new guide, providing support to countries on how to apply behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) for health. It presents a simple step-wise approach, complemented by a rich collection of detailed considerations, tools and exercises. The guide is the first of its kind, spec...ifically developed for use by public health professionals developing policies, services and communications informed by BCI across health topics.
Some of the most persistent public health challenges involve human behaviour. Using a BCI lens means that health policies, services and communications can be tailored to the needs and circumstances of people and communities, and thereby help combat these challenges. The new Tailoring Health Programmes (THP) guide describes how this can be done.
Building on several topic-specific guides that focused on applying BCI to routine and influenza vaccination and tackling antimicrobial resistance, as well as external evaluations and a rigorous peer-review process, this guide is the result of over a decade of work by WHO/Europe. The THP approach has already been adopted in over 20 countries and has received positive feedback from public health agencies.
“This guide is the culmination of a decade of work involving many colleagues at country, regional and global levels. The guide is our “BCI bible”, guiding our work with and in countries to help tackle persistent health challenges,” said Katrine Bach Habersaat, Regional Advisor for BCI at WHO/Europe.
Karina Godoy, Senior Analyst and National Focal Point for Behavioural Insights at the Public Health Agency of Sweden, who is employing the approach described in the guide across several health projects, comments: “The THP guide is easy to use and at the same time provides detailed guidance and inspiration where needed. We have decided to translate the document into Swedish and use the approach widely”.
more
This Global Competency Standards sets the benchmark for the health workforce in providing equality of care to refugees and migrants. Refugee and migrant populations are highly diverse, with significant variation in life experiences, health needs and access to health care. The standards described out...line expected behaviours of health workers in delivering quality care to refugees and migrants and can be used to inform the outcomes of education programmes aligned with standards for care. The Competency Standards is designed to provide a foundation to support the development of competency-based curricula tailored to the local context and for health workers to achieve a minimum level of competence. The importance of person-centred, culturally responsive care is emphasized in the nine competency standards, which recognize the need for health workers to be trained, supported and empowered within strong health systems
more
Mental health is critically important to everyone, everywhere. All over the world, mental health needs are high but responses are insufficient and inadequate. The World mental health report: transforming mental health for all is designed to inspire and inform better mental health for everyone everyw...here. Drawing on the latest evidence available, showcasing examples of good practice from around the world, and voicing people’s lived experience, it highlights why and where change is most needed and how it can best be achieved. It calls on all stakeholders to work together to deepen the value and commitment given to mental health, reshape the environments that influence mental health, and strengthen the systems that care for mental health.
more
The availability of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in health care facilities, especially in maternity and primary-care settings where they are often absent, supports core aspects of quality, equity and dignity for all people. This document describes an approach for conducting a nation...al situational analysis of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as a basis for improving quality of care. This document describes the process from the initial preparatory stages, including triggers for action, through data collection and analysis to the dissemination of results. Each element of the approach is described and possible limitations and mechanisms to mitigate these are explored.
more
The Strategic Tool for Assessing Risks (STAR) offers a comprehensive, easy-to-use toolkit and approach to enable national and subnational governments to rapidly conduct a strategic and evidence-based assessment of public health risks for planning and prioritization of health emergency preparedness a...nd disaster risk management activities. This guidance describes the principles and methodology of STAR to enhance its adaptation and use at the national or subnational levels.
more
The Guidelines for the Prevention, Surveillance and Management of COVID-19 Infection amongst Health Care Workers (HCW) in Zimbabwe were developed to prevent, detect and manage HCW COVID-19 infection, an emerging pandemic affecting the whole world. The HCW is at the fore front of this pandemic, thus ...the need for standardised operating procedures is of utmost importance. These guidelines therefore seek to reduce the significant morbidity and mortality among the HCW, ultimately ensuring the reduction of the cost to the health care worker and the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) as a whole. The Ministry of Health and Child Care requires that all health care workers in various health care settings follow infection prevention and control procedures.
more
Combined questionnaire Core
This guide presents a basis for understanding how diarrhoeal diseases are currently influenced by climate and weather, and may be further exacerbated by climate change. It is a technical guide on how to conduct a Vulnerability & Adaptation assessment for diarrhoeal diseases and climate change, and p...rovides guidance on how to:
identify populations and regions vulnerable to diarrhoeal diseases and the reasons for their vulnerability;
establish relevant baselines that can be analysed and monitored;
conduct analyses to project how diarrhoeal diseases may be impacted in the future due to climate change; and
identify appropriate responses to mitigate and monitor these risks over time.
more
This assessment tool is to support municipalities and local authorities in identifying the risks and vulnerabilities that refugees and migrants face and to identify gaps where possible methods to minimize the impact of the pandemic exist so that they can be prioritized within local policy processes.
This guidance note is intended primarily for health actors working in emergency and disaster risk management (hereafter 'emergency risk management') at the local, national or international level, and in governmental or nongovernmental agencies. People with disabilities, those... working in the disability sector and those working in other sectors that contribute to improved health outcomes related to emergency risk management, may also find this guidance note useful.
more
"This is the final report of the six-year collaboration between the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Gulbenkian Global Mental Health Platform, an initiative of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation aimed at reducing the global burden of mental health through the development a...nd application of evidence and good practices to global mental health."
more
“towards quality health and social welfare services”
Including a Tool to Assess the Adolescent Health and Development Component in Pre-Service Education of Health-Care Providers
This paper was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2015, and produced by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, in cooperation with German civil society actors and freelance psychologists working in the field... of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) with refugees and internally displaced people (IDP) in both the Middle Eastern region and Germany. The commission arose from BMZ’s wish for guidance on the characteristics of good working practices in MHPSS and the desire expressed by GIZ’s civil society partners in the regional programme Psychosocial Support for Syrian and Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced People for more intensive dialogue to promote MHPSS in the context of the Syria and Iraq crises.
more
The Guidelines on promotive and preventive mental health interventions for adolescents - Helping Adolescents thrive (HAT), provide evidence-informed recommendations on psychosocial interventions to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours among ...adolescents.
The HAT Guidelines aims to inform policy development, service planning and the strengthening of health and education systems, and facilitate mainstreaming of adolescent mental health promotion and prevention strategies across sectors and delivery platforms.
more
A manual intended for medical and other personnel responsible for humanitarian activities in armed conflicts. It covers the following topics: setting up a health-care system that meets the essential needs of war victims, particularly of displaced persons; public health tools most frequently used for... evaluation, establishment of priorities, analysis of possible activities and their follow-up; protecting war victims and aspects of humanitarian law related to health; and lastly, ethical problems
more