Population and Health Policies and Programs
The design, collection, and analysis of data to monitor and evaluate population and related programs and interventions in a global setting with the goal of informing policy
The lack of strong evidence on the progress and effectiveness of population and related health programs is related to several issues, including difficulties in measuring some of the variables of most interest to programs, biases caused by non-random placement of programs, selectivity of participation, heterogeneity in responses, and indirect and spillover effects. The CPC has a long and distinguished record in research that addresses these challenges and wider issues related to the design, collection, and analysis of data to monitor and evaluate population and related programs and interventions.
This line of research and methods development started with examinations of family planning programs and has evolved into larger programs of research related to measurement, monitoring, and evaluation. CPC fellows are actively expanding and developing this field of research within the center as evidenced by recent awards focused around evaluation of global reproductive health, child health, and HIV programs. For example, a CPC fellow developed the PLACE method which uses an innovative technique to target and monitor AIDS prevention efforts. Since then, this method has been used in numerous countries by health administrators.
A marginalized, high risk population is the urban poor. Such populations often reside in slum areas, but slums can be hard to define and there is little information on the population-level implications of slum life for health. A CPC fellow made innovative use of GIS tools and satellite imagery combined with more traditional field methods to define, map, and survey slum areas of several major cities in Asia. Maps of this type are widely used to inform programs that have a goal of reaching slum populations.
Related Fellows:
- John S. Akin
- Gustavo Angeles
- Clare Barrington
- Shelah S. Bloom
- Yong Cai
- David K. Guilkey
- Sudhanshu (Ashu) Handa
- Klara Peter
- Audrey E. Pettifor
- Michele Rivkin-Fish
- Ilene S. Speizer
- John F. Stewart
- Chirayath M. Suchindran
- Harsha Thirumurthy
- Jim Thomas
- Sharon S. Weir
Related Research:
- Effects of Cash Transfer and Community Mobilization in Young South African Women
- Emerging Disparities in Chronic Disease Risk
- MEASURE Phase III Monitoring and Assessment for Results
- Measurement, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) Project for the Urban Reproductive Health Initiative
- USAID APHIA II Kenya
