Understanding Vaccine Acceptance among Indigenous Populations in Guatemala
A collaborative, mixed methods study exploring the nuances of vaccine acceptance and evaluating the use of localized educational content to improve vaccine uptake among Indigenous Guatemalans.
Indigenous Maya peoples make up over 40% of Guatemala’s overall population. They have faced substantial barriers to COVID-19 vaccine access and acceptance. Consequently, vaccination rates among Indigenous Guatemalans remained concerningly low in the months following the introduction of the vaccine.
We worked with Wuqu’ Kawoq | Maya Health Alliance and the University of California San Francisco to understand the factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy in these populations and to explore a community-centric approach to vaccine outreach. As part of our multi-phase study, we created and disseminated culturally and linguistically appropriate educational video content to target populations via social media, and evaluated its impact on vaccine perceptions.
THE GAP
Barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Indigenous Guatemalans included lack of guidance in local languages, confusion around availability and eligibility, and myths and misinformation about side effects. Our teams recognized that in order to overcome these challenges, it was necessary to better understand vaccine perceptions in these communities and to identify ways to reach them with localized and understandable vaccine information.
OUR APPROACH
Wuqu’ Kawoq is an established and trusted community health organization that works directly with local Indigenous communities. In collaboration with the Wuqu’ Kawoq team and research partners at UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences, we designed a multi-part study aiming to:
1. Understand how the COVID-19 vaccine is perceived by the Indigenous Maya population in the Central Highlands of Guatemala
2. Determine which myths and misinformation exist within the community
3. Develop an understanding of where Indigenous Maya populations seek vaccine information
4. Identify trusted sources of messaging for Indigenous community members
5. Understand how Indigenous community members prefer to receive health information, including considerations such as language, format, and platform.
PHASE I: Qualitative study
The initial phase involved focus group discussions with community members and in-depth interviews with local community health workers, nurses, and physicians in Guatemala’s Central Highlands. Respondents noted a lack of information available in local languages and confusion around vaccine availability and eligibility, increasing mistrust in the vaccine and opening the door to myths and misinformation. It also became evident that increasing vaccine acceptance would require integrating local understanding, cultural contexts, and Indigenous languages such as K’iche’ and Kaqchikel into vaccine messaging.
PHASE II: Content Development
With our collaborators, we co-developed two sets of culturally appropriate educational videos covering COVID-19 vaccine side effects and myths and misinformation about the vaccine. The content was adapted from videos in our COVID-19 toolkit, using a community-based, human-centered design approach. All of the new videos were translated into Spanish, K'iche’, and Kaqchikel .
PHASE III: Social media dissemination and evaluation
The final phase of the study involved leveraging social media to test the effectiveness of vaccine education content in local Mayan languages compared to Spanish. Our team found Facebook to be the most relevant and accessible social media platform for the target community, so we ran a Facebook Ads campaign and conducted a Facebook Brand Lift study targeting users geographically.
This phase also entailed conducting in-person surveys before and after the social media promotion. The surveys aimed to determine whether the campaign effectively reached the target populations and influenced their vaccine understanding and acceptance.
FINDINGS AND NEXT STEPS
Initial results suggest that localized health education content that is disseminated through trusted sources can successfully improve vaccine knowledge and uptake. The full analysis is currently underway and will be published upon completion. For insights as of August 2022, please see the Vaccine Confidence Fund Insights Report: https://vaccineconfidencefund.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/VCF-Insights-Report-Aug-2022.pdf.
Educational Assets
All videos are available in Spanish, K’iche’, and Kaqchikel on YouTube:
¿Es cierto que las vacunas contra el COVID-19 contienen microchips?
Le ukojik le toqo’j kunanik q’ateb’al uwach le Covid-19, la kuq’atej uwach le alk’walanem?
Ri vacunas richin COVID-19 yat kikamsaj?
COVID-19 Toolkit
An evidence-based health education toolkit to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable communities, where barriers to accessing health care and health information are high. Our team is committed to applying our expertise in education and health to create resources that are universally relevant.
Our free COVID-19 Toolkit provides key information related to the prevention and understanding of COVID-19. The content is mainly visual to address language & literacy barriers, mobile-friendly for use in low-bandwidth settings, and includes recommendations that consider varying environmental contexts.
The toolkit contains videos, infographics, and short animations about:
All materials in our COVID-19 toolkit are open access and all work is available for use, distribution and adaptation under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA license.
A video series to better inform and support health workers and community members around the complexities of IPV during COVID-19. Available in English and Spanish.
Need additional health education content? Contact us at digitalmedic@stanford.edu. While we might not be able to respond to all messages right away, we appreciate your input and rely on it to shape our dynamic work.
All materials in our COVID-19 toolkit are open access and all work is available for use, distribution and adaptation under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA license.
Join our mailing list for updates on COVID-19 content:
COVID-19 and Intimate Partner Violence
Globally, 1 in 3 women will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime.
Now, in the shadow of COVID-19 and its pandemic, communities, researchers, advocates, and survivors are seeing and experiencing a worsening of intimate partner violence (IPV).
We worked with Stanford University’s Department of Emergency Medicine and the community based organization Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence to create a video series that aims to better inform health workers, community members, and survivors about the complexities of IPV, while navigating the challenges the pandemic has created in seeking help.
THE GAP
The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated existing difficulties for IPV survivors to access resources, new and existing. Risk factors known to be correlated with IPV have increased, such as financial, medical, and emotional stressors, disproportionately impacting communities of color. Resources and help systems that were once reliable and consistent closed down, migrated to online services, or were confusing for survivors and their friends and families. Many IPV hotlines and shelters experienced a decrease in call volumes, and judicial proceedings paused entirely or moved to online platforms. Many IPV victims now lack safe and reliable access to resources.
Amid these entangled issues, community health workers (CHWs) and educators can serve a vital role in supporting survivors through education, empowerment, and connection to resources. We know CHWs are trusted and knowledgeable aides for people experiencing IPV, and are key players in bridging the gap between survivors and access to help. However, lack of health worker training around IPV paired with reduced in-person or otherwise private medical encounters during COVID-19 have made it harder for people to securely reach out to CHWs, and for CHWs to reach out to survivors who could possibly be isolated.
OUR APPROACH
We collaborated with the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford’s School of Medicine and Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, a nonprofit organization located in San Jose, CA, to create an educational video series on COVID-19, IPV, and the impact of the pandemic on survivors. The video series serves as a source of information to help CHWs and community members better understand what IPV looks like, ways to support survivors, and additional resources for those interested in reaching out, all while navigating the parallel challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DISSEMINATION
All videos are freely available in both English and Spanish on our YouTube channel, as well as in the Digital Medic mobile app for iOS and Android.
Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence
Website – www.nextdoorsolutions.org
Twitter – @NDSolutions
Instagram – next_door_solutions
Facebook – Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence
An animated video models snakebite prevention & treatment tips
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes every year with 2.7 million envenomings (poisoning from snakebites). Snakebite envenomings are a global issue, and a particularly prevalent concern in Eswatini where the majority of the population is at high risk of exposure to a venomous snakebite.
The best known cure for a snakebite? Preventing it in the first place.
THE GAP
In Eswatini, most people live in rural areas or work in agriculture, making them more likely to come into contact with the region’s poisonous snakes. Once bitten, the same population is at higher risk of disability or death from poisoning due to the prohibitive cost and shortage of antivenom. Its steep cost, short shelf life, and need for refrigeration make antivenom inaccessible for many patients, prompting the need for alternative care tactics.
It is important to remember that this particular health issue is not the snake’s fault; most will bite only if provoked. Taking certain measures to prevent envenomings can save the lives of both humans and snakes.
OUR APPROACH
We teamed up with the Eswatini Antivenom Foundation (EAF) to create an animated video on snakebite prevention and first-aid treatment tips through the eyes of Dudu and Jabu, two children living in rural Eswatini. The video is meant to be shown in primary and secondary schools to teach children and their families how to prepare for snakebite season, which typically runs from September through May of each year.
DISSEMINATION
The video will be distributed by the Eswatini Antivenom Foundation. It is also available on our YouTube channel and free to use, distribute, and adapt under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA license.
A free advocacy training to elevate the voices of community health workers.
For too long, community health workers (CHWs) have been excluded from discussions that influence their work and their communities. That’s why Advocacy Training for Community Health Workers is a critical course to share with CHWs around the world. This free digital training equips CHWs with the skills to effectively share their personal stories and promote the health issues most important to their communities.
Community health workers are the most proximal and trusted care providers for millions of people around the world. Despite their demonstrated impact, CHWs have historically been excluded from conversations and decision-making that influence their work and communities.
Our Approach
We worked with the Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC) and an advisory group of CHWs from around the world (Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Malawi, and Guatemala) to ensure that all content is action-oriented and reflective of the realities of CHWs’ work and the challenges they face.
Learners will have the ability to access and download videos, reading materials, and reflection exercises on the following topics:
1. The history and background of CHW programs
2. How to advocate for improved health care and working conditions
3. How to tell personal stories to advocate for change
4. How to use technology tools to participate in global conversations
Dissemination
The free advocacy training course is available in the Digital Medic app for iOS and Android. Learners have the ability to download materials for offline access.
We have also created a free Facilitator Guide to assist with in-person and hybrid group learning sessions. The guide is recommended for CHW trainers and supervisors, and is designed to align with your existing schedule. All materials are available in English, French, and Spanish through the CHIC course website.
Evaluation
Our evaluation team will be measuring learner engagement with the course as well as how virtual training impacts knowledge, attitudes, and practices of CHWs.
Supporting Vaccination Toolkit for Community Health Workers
Covid-19 and Intimate Partner Violence Training for Community Health Workers and Community Members
Grow Great Stunting Prevention Series for Community Health Workers and Communities
COVID-19 Resources
Latest Projects
COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers
This course is designed for training physicians, nurses and other healthcare workers. It covers topics including symptoms and signs in patients with COVID-19, early stabilization of patients, preventing the need for intubation, and ventilator management of patients.
The course is available in English, Spanish, Hindi, French, and Portuguese and can be accessed through Coursera or edX below. Download our Digital Medic app on iOS and Google Play for use in offline mode.
Viral Facts is a regular series dedicated to quickly and credibly answering common COVID-19 questions. Our goal is to create evidence-based videos on timely topics that appeal to a general audience.
Did you know that vaccines work by triggering your body’s natural immune response to protect you from specific germs, like the virus that causes COVID-19? Take a closer look at how this happens, and why some people experience symptoms in the first few days after receiving the vaccine.
Many of our COVID-19 infographics are available for download in multiple languages, including Afrikaans, عربى (Arabic), English, French, हिंदी (Hindi), isiXhosa, isiZulu, Kiswahili, 普通话 (Mandarin), Portuguese, Setswana, and Spanish.
If you don’t see your language, you can customize your own infographic and add your organization’s logo using the steps shown in the video above. Use the buttons below to access and download the content.
Our materials provide key information on high-priority topics related to the prevention and understanding of COVID-19. Our content is designed to be:
available freely with open access
easily adaptable to various languages and contexts
mainly visual (to address language & literacy barriers)
mobile friendly and usable in low-bandwidth settings
includes recommendations that consider varying environmental contexts
DOWNLOAD AND ADAPT THE TOOLKIT BELOW FOR USE IN YOUR OWN SETTING
Afrikaans
Arabic
English
French
Hindi
isiXhosa
isiZulu
Kiswahili
Mandarin
Portuguese
Setswana
Spanish
Series 7: Mental Health
After viewing this content, the learner will be equipped with evidence-based strategies for coping with stress, both for themselves and for children, during periods of heightened anxiety such as during COVID-19.
After viewing this content, the learner will be able to 1) Describe 3 different types of mask (N95, surgical, cloth), when they should be worn, and by whom. 2) Describe how to put on, wear and take off a fabric mask safely. 3) Recognize improper uses of masks. 4) Know that mask wearing alone cannot prevent spreading coronavirus and hand-washing and physical distancing are still vitally important. 5) Describe features that make a fabric mask most effective. 6) Describe how to properly care for fabric masks.
After viewing this content, the learner will be able to 1) Understand how the coronavirus enters the body 2) Describe how COVID-19 affects breathing and in severe cases prevents oxygen from reaching the body. 3) Describe spectrum of symptoms caused by COVID-19 including no symptoms, mild flu-like symptoms, and severe symptoms and possible death. 4) Recognize when to seek immediate medical care 5) Interrupt the journey of the virus through hand washing and not touching your face.
After viewing the content, the learner will be able to: 1) Explain the role of respiratory secretions in the transmission of the virus, 2) Describe how to keep respiratory secretions from spreading around. 3) Describe how to keep others’ respiratory secretions from reaching their eyes, nose, mouths and noses. 4) Explain the importance of keeping surfaces and objects clean.
After viewing the content, the learner will be able to: 1) Know the symptoms of respiratory infection and the need to stay home, 2) Understand how distance between individuals reduces the spread of virus, and 3) Understand the risk of social interactions.
After viewing the content, the learner will be able to: 1) Identify why hand washing is important, 2) Describe the spectrum of available hand-cleaning techniques, 3) Explain how to effectively wash their hands, and 4) Recall when to wash their hands.
You can now customize our assets with your own translated text and logo. View the demo videos below and click “Get Started” to create and download your custom assets.
Dr. Seema Yasmin, Director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative, and Former Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer
With fear and misinformation spreading almost faster than the virus itself, it is more important than ever to ensure myths are debunked and accurate health information is accessible to all.
Our health communication expert, Dr. Seema Yasmin, responds to some of the most common myths.
Need additional health education content? Contact us at digitalmedic@stanford.edu. While we might not be able to respond to all messages right away, we appreciate your input and rely on it to shape our dynamic work.
All materials in our COVID-19 toolkit are open access and all work is available for use, distribution and adaptation under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA license.
Join our mailing list for updates on COVID-19 content:
Caregiver Education
Family caregivers play an integral role in the well being of individuals in need of medical care. However, they are often ill-equipped to recognize and meet the needs of their family members, particularly after hospitalization.
THE GAP
A growing body of work suggests that educating family caregivers is a cost-effective way to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital readmission rates, particularly in low resource areas where follow-up care options are limited.
OUR APPROACH
Starting in May 2018, Stanford Digital MEdIC and the not-for-profit, Noora Health, entered a collaboration to better understand how the different components of caregiver training contribute to improved patient practices and outcomes. Noora Health was founded at Stanford University and based in Bangalore, India that has recognized the importance of integrating family caregivers into the health delivery process.
DISSEMINATION
Noora Health has developed an in-hospital caregiver training model that they currently deliver in dozens of urban and rural hospitals across India. Noora trainers leverage visual tools including videos and flip charts to teach patients and their family members about best practices for follow-up care.
IMPACT EVALUATION
Currently, we are piloting a variety of model modifications aimed at increasing the effectiveness of Noora Health’s patient and caregiver engagement. We are also exploring the potential for digital learning reinforcements after hospitalization.
Public Health Courses
Around the world today, more than 80 million learners worldwide engage with massive open online courses (MOOCs). The tremendous reach of open online learning platforms presents a huge opportunity for massive open online public health education too!
THE GAP
To day, the vast majority of MOOCs have been created in an attempt to solve for global higher education. Only a handful of MOOCs have focused primarily on disseminating public health education and improving basic health behaviors in their audiences.
OUR APPROACH
We created four massive open online courses, on child nutrition, food and health for adults, breastfeeding and gender health. These courses currently reach more than 400,000 learners around the world and two have been repurposed for continuing medical education (CME) to support physicians in spreading basic health messages.
DISSEMINATION
Our massive open online courses are hosted on Coursera, where learners around the world can access them for free, with the option of purchasing a completion certificate if they feel this will help them in the future. Our fastest growing MOOC, Introduction to Food and Health, grows by approximately 14,000 learners each week. Additionally, we reach thousands of physician learners, who access our courses through the free Stanford Online CME platform.
IMPACT EVALUATION
Both Coursera and the Stanford Office of Continuing Medical Education gather ongoing analytics and feedback from their learner populations. We conduct evaluations using this data to ensure that our programs are having a real impact on learners around the world.
Project Videos
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Stanford Introduction to Food & Health - Trailer
A Sociocultural History of Obesity and the Western Diet
Fundamentals of Nutrients and the History of Nutrition
The Spectrum of Carbohydrates - from Whole Grain to White Bread
Plant & Animal Proteins - the Building Blocks of the Body
Dietary Fats and Their Recommended Intake
Sugar & Your Health: Too Much of a Good Thing?
Michael Pollan Presents the Case for Cooking
Case Study: A Pre-Diabetic Middle-aged Man
Changing Your Eating Habits: A Step-wise Approach
Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. -Michael Pollan Explains His Mantra
Ingredients Every Home Kitchen Must Have - Cooking Fundamentals
Adding Vegetables Into Your Diet - Cooking Fundamentals
At present, one in four children in South Africa is stunted.
Stunting prevents children all over the world from achieving their full potential. The impact of stunting reaches far beyond height – it impairs a child’s brain development, performance in school, and learning ability for the rest of their life – and it can begin even before a baby is born.
Although stunting is largely irreversible, it is preventable.
THE GAP
Stunting results from a number of factors, including inadequate nutrition for the expectant mother and her child. But it can also be the result of substandard living environments that lead to frequent illness or even lack of psychosocial stimulation. Believe it or not, love, play and early stimulation of a child’s mind, may be as important as healthy food in helping that child thrive.
OUR APPROACH
In collaboration with DG Murray Trust’s Grow Great Campaign and other local stakeholders, we have developed an engaging, story-based video series to raise awareness around the importance of stunting prevention and help frontline health workers communicate these critical health messages to the families they serve. By empowering families with knowledge, we can work towards a brighter future for all South Africans.
DISSEMINATION
Our content is disseminated through collaborations with multiple local partners, including community health workers, local clinics, local NGOs and the South African Dept. of Health.
All videos are freely available on YouTube and in the Digital Medic mobile app.
IMPACT EVALUATION
We are committed to designing and implementing rigorous evaluations of all our health education interventions. We use a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative studies like in-depth stakeholder interviews and community focus groups, as well as quantitative methods such as large randomized controlled trials.
View all videos on YouTube or in the Digital Medic mobile app in the following languages:
How Routine Immunization, Vitamin A Supplements and Deworming Help You Grow
Feeding Your Family on a Budget
Foods to Eat in Moderation
Breastfeeding in the Workplace
Mental Health Support for New Mothers
What first foods can babies eat? Learn complementary feeding best practices
Bonding With Your Baby
Special Nutrients for Growing Children
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The Road to Health
More children are surviving, but not enough are thriving.
Mortality rates for children under 5 have decreased in South Africa, but many children are not reaching their full development potential as evidenced by the high rates of stunting and poor educational outcomes.
The national Side-by-Side campaign in South Africa is working to encourage stronger collaboration between healthcare workers and caregivers to improve children’s health and development, in part through their Road to Health Book that is issued to all new births across the country.
THE GAP
The Road to Health Book is a health education tool given to caregivers in South Africa, free for all babies born since late 2018 in public or private health care facilities. The book places the supportive relationship between the caregiver and the child at the center of the child's development, and emphasizes the relationship between caregivers and healthcare professionals, working side by side to support each child.
OUR APPROACH
In collaboration with the National Department of Health and multiple South African maternal child health stakeholders, we have created a series of videos that highlight the paradigm shift towards the caregiver as central to their child's nurturing care and protection, and their lifelong health outcomes, with the health worker playing an integral role in this journey.
The videos are used to introduce the Road to Health Book, as well as to outline 5 themes: Nutrition, Love, Protection, Health Care and Extra Care.
DISSEMINATION
These videos have been shared with the South African National Department of Health, the Western Cape Department of Health, and various organizations across South Africa. In addition to being featured in the national Side-by-Side communication campaign, the videos are played in clinic waiting rooms to share critical health information with patients as they wait for their appointments.
Project Videos
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The Road to Health Trailer
The Road to Health: The Benefits of Breastfeeding
The Road to Health: Love Listening and Explaining
The Road to Health: Protection through Immunization
The Road to Health: Danger Signs in Early Childhood
The Road to Health: Celebrating Children with Differences
The Road to Health: Kangaroo Mother Care for Small Babies
There is a critical deficit in the number of health professionals being trained worldwide. As a result, billions of people do not have access to adequate healthcare and there are tremendous disparities in rates of avoidable disability and death.
THE GAP
The traditional approach to medical education is insufficient to address the current, pressing, and growing knowledge gaps and educational inequities. The problem is exacerbated in under-resourced areas, where healthcare professionals available to teach, and educational resources necessary to facilitate high-quality training, are in short supply.
OUR APPROACH
We seek to address the gaps in global medical education by leveraging the expertise of Stanford faculty by creating digital modular medical education curricula that can be localized to meet the needs of the learning contexts.
DISSEMINATION
We work directly with medical education institutions to identify curricular gaps and provide access to digital content created at Stanford, such as our Anatomy of the Upper Limb, Emergency Medicine, and Microbiology courses. We also work with institutions to identify viable digital platforms for disseminating content.
IMPACT EVALUATION
We have piloted sharing supplementary medical education content across a number of institutions and are working with faculty at collaborating institutions and at Stanford to better identify the ways in which content can be localized to meet medical students’ learning needs.
Project Videos
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Stanford Medicine Anatomy Course Trailer
Anatomy of the Upper Limb Module 1 - Intro to Shoulder and Scapular Region
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Osteology of the Shoulder Region and Shoulder Joint
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Scapular Muscles - Posterior View
Shoulder Muscles - Anterior View
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Shoulder Muscles - Posterior View
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Rotator Cuff Muscles
Bones of the Shoulder and Arm
Muscular Attachments of the Anterior Proximal Humerus
Muscles of the Shoulder
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Module 2 - Intro to Axilla, Brachial Plexus, Brachium
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Boundaries and Content of Axilla
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Axillary Artery
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Brachial Plexus
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Arm - Anterior View
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Arm - Posterior View
Brachial Plexus and Axillary Artery
Muscles of the Arm
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Module 3 - Intro to Elbow, Cubital Fossa, and Anterior Forearm
Anatomy of the Upper Limb: Osteology of Elbow Region and Elbow Joint
Around the world, more than 800 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Both new mothers and their infants face an even greater risk of experiencing poor health outcomes if they live in an under-resourced part of the world.
THE GAP
The great majority of maternal and infant deaths occurring in low-resource setting can be prevented. Improvements in maternal knowledge, leading to health-promoting behaviors, are often an important part of the solution.
OUR APPROACH
In collaboration with the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Trust, we created a collection of foundational health education videos addressing key topics in maternal child health. The series was first narrated in isiXhosa, then translated into Hindi and Dioula. It is currently being used in South Africa, India and Burkina Faso.
DISSEMINATION
By partnering with community health workers, who are trained in delivering health education messaging, we work to disseminate our content via mobile technology to families who would otherwise lack access to this information. Armed with tablets and smartphones, and using our offline app, we empower these frontline healthcare providers with accessible teaching tools which empower them in the field. The maternal child health content is also freely available on our DM YouTube Channel.
IMPACT EVALUATION
In 2017, we began conducted focus groups with community health workers who had experience using our video health promotion content during their home visits. Recent research suggests that tablet-based, digital teaching tools were an acceptable, feasible and empowering resource for community health workers.
Under the United States’ Zero Tolerance Policy, thousands of children were separated from their loving caregivers upon arrival at the US border. News agencies, legal and medical professionals estimate that thousands more families were separated prior to the implementation of the policy. Forced separation from a primary caregiver, at any age, is considered a major trauma with lasting negative health effects for children and their families.
THE GAP
Hundreds of lawyers and physicians have volunteered their services to the victims of family separation but the resources available to support these professionals are scarce and often inaccessible to busy professionals in need of practical advice and emotional support.
OUR APPROACH
Through a series of short video interviews with lawyers and physicians who have years of experience working with separated families, we are creating a compact “toolkit” to offer these professionals efficiently delivered, just-in-time support that will leave them with the strategies and coping skills they need to do this heroic humanitarian work.
DISSEMINATION
The toolkit is openly available below for lawyers and physicians who may be considering volunteer work of this nature. It will also be disseminated through multiple professional and charitable organizations working with these professional volunteers.
IMPACT EVALUATION
We are committed to understanding the effectiveness of all our health education interventions. We will collect survey feedback and conduct in-depth focus group sessions with learners to examine how our trauma-informed training content can better prepare those on the front lines working to protect vulnerable children.
The 100% Breastfed Initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Stanford Center for Health Education and numerous local stakeholders including: The Western Cape Dept. of Health, The University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, UNICEF, Philani Child Health and Nutrition, The University of the Witswatersrand, University of Limpopo and the First 1000 Days Initiative. The initiative is designed to help raise awareness and improve knowledge around the practice of breastfeeding.
A special version of the 100% Breastfed series was also created for the training of frontline health workers on how to better communicate these critical health messages to the families they serve. By empowering families with knowledge, we can work towards a brighter future for all South Africans.
THE GAP
In South Africa, rates of exclusive breastfeeding remain among the lowest in the world. Raising awareness around the benefits of breastfeeding as well as improving maternal knowledge about how to best feed their babies is a critical part of the solution to this public health problem.
OUR APPROACH
In collaboration with UNICEF, the South African National Dept. of Health, the Western Cape Dept. of Health, local academic institutions and NGOs, we developed an engaging, video series, translated into multiple South African languages, to help raise awareness and improve knowledge around the practice of breastfeeding. A special version was also created for the training of frontline health workers on how to better communicate these critical health messages to the families they serve. By empowering families with knowledge, we can work towards a brighter future for all South Africans.
DISSEMINATION
Our content is disseminated through collaborations with multiple local partners, including local NGOs who employ community health workers. Our key dissemination partner in the Western Cape is the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Trust, an organization that employs more than 200 CHWs. The content is also disseminated through local clinics with the generous support of Johnson & Johnson and the Western Cape Dept. of Health.
IMPACT EVALUATION
The 100% Breastfed content is currently being evaluated through a large cluster randomized controlled trial in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Frontline health workers employed by the Philani Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Trust are working with the collaboratively developed 100% Breastfed content to support more than 1000 pregnant women as they make one of the most important decisions in their babies’ lives.
Project Videos
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Breastfeeding: How It Works
The Benefits of Breastfeeding Mothers
What Happened to the Practice of Breastfeeding?
Breastfeeding International Recommendations
Breastfeeding Challenges Faced by Many New Mothers
Safe Infant Feeding Practices for Mothers Who are Not Breastfeeding
Unsafe Infant Feeding Practices
Breastfeeding for Working Mothers
Breastfeeding for HIV+ Mothers in Under-Resourced Settings
100% Breastfed: The importance of breastfeeding your baby
