RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Learning about scale, measurement and community mobilisation: reflections on the implementation of the Avahan HIV/AIDS initiative in India
JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JO J Epidemiol Community Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP ii16
OP ii25
DO 10.1136/jech-2012-201081
VO 66
IS Suppl 2
A1 Tisha Wheeler
A1 Usha Kiran
A1 Gina Dallabetta
A1 Matangi Jayaram
A1 Padma Chandrasekaran
A1 Annie Tangri
A1 Hari Menon
A1 Sameer Kumta
A1 Sema Sgaier
A1 Aparajita Ramakrishnan
A1 James Moore
A1 Alkesh Wadhwani
A1 Ashok Alexander
YR 2012
UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/66/Suppl_2/ii16.abstract
AB Debates have raged in development for decades about the appropriateness of participatory approaches and the degree to which they can be managed, scaled and measured. The Avahan programme confronted these issues over the last 7 years and concludes that it is advantageous to manage scaled community mobilisation processes so that participation evolves and programming on the ground is shaped by what is learnt through implementation. The donor (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) and its partners determined a standard set of programme activities that were implemented programme-wide but evolved with input from communities on the ground. Difficulties faced in monitoring and measurement in Avahan may be characteristic of similar efforts to measure community mobilisation in a scaled programme, and ultimately these challenges informed methods that were useful. The approach the programme undertook for learning and changing, the activities it built into the HIV prevention programme, and its logic model and measurement tools, may be relevant in other public health settings seeking to integrate community mobilisation.