Research area 2: operational research to improve vaccination coverage and immunity
Background
In some polio-endemic and re-infected countries, there is still room for further improvement in vaccine coverage and/or population immunity. Communication research suggests that there are still gaps in knowledge, attitude and perception among caregivers and vaccinators in many countries.
The Polio Research Committee (PRC) recommend to:
a) evaluate new approaches to further increase vaccination coverage and population immunity;
b) develop and evaluate tools to improve SIA and AFP surveillance management; and,
c) evaluate vaccinator performance and assess ways to improve performance.
Examples of proposals to be considered
a) Evaluate new approaches to further increase vaccination coverage and population immunity
- Test different communication and social mobilization strategies and evaluate their impact on acceptance and coverage.
- Develop and test an innovative and simpler way to monitor immunization coverage (e.g. Lot Quality Assurance Sampling, use of IT to improve monitoring and activities).
- Test feasibility and effectiveness of new approaches to increase the population immunity (e.g. zinc supplementation during SIAs, combination of OPV and IPV).
b) Develop and evaluate tools to improve SIA/AFP surveillance management
- Develop and test management tools for assessing and optimising staff performance (e.g. proportion of staff time spent on identified priority/high-impact tasks).
- Apply operational improvement methods proven in private sector (e.g. TQC*, Six Sigma**) to IPD/AFP surveillance operation.
- Conduct external assessment of low-SIA performing areas (e.g. assess operational, attitudinal and organizational issues).
c) Evaluate vaccinator performance and assess ways to improve performance
- Identify best practices with focus on optimizing vaccinator selection, training, supervision and incentive/remuneration.
Not considered for funding:
- Test interventions which are not proven anywhere else.
- Evaluate activities without clear study question and/or hypothesis.
* Total quality control (TQC) is management philosophy to apply quality management principles to all areas of business from design to delivery
** Six Sigma is management strategy which seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes.
Deadline
The deadline for submissions is 30 March 2010.