Live Presentation
Speak with Nareesa Karmali about her practicum on January 31st from 4:00-4:30pm via this .
Video Presentation
View Nareesa Karmali's poster presentation in this video recording:聽
Abstract
Cooper/Smith, a Washington-based organization using hard data to improve the effectiveness of global development programming, launched the Blantyre Prevention Strategy (BPS) in Malawi as a test case for establishing an optimized HIV prevention delivery system that can be embedded into existing health systems. In my capacity as a practicum student with Cooper/Smith, I conducted the following sub-projects to achieve BPS objectives:聽
-
聽The validation of key performance indicators for HIV prevention in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Response by pulling in historical data and performing data analysis and visualization in R. From my findings, I provided a recommendation report and suggested pertinent modifications to baseline indicators and targets. These baseline indicators will be used to assess the overall impact of HIV prevention activities throughout the project.聽
-
The comparison and assessment of two routine HIV data sources in Blantyre, Department of HIV and AIDS Management Information System (DHAMIS) and District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2), for data consistency, reliability, and validity on the ground. These efforts went toward validating the data underlying the Prevention Adaptive Learning Management System, an interactive dashboard used to monitor and evaluate key stakeholder activities and data systems performance and appraise the overall HIV prevention impact within Blantyre. Relatedly, this analysis was followed by Prevention Adaptive Learning Management System (PALMS) beta-testing and initial release to ensure the dashboard was user-friendly and met the needs of its users, namely providing them with timely and relevant information for program adaption and data for decision-making.聽聽
This practicum served as an important learning experience, demonstrating that the effective use of data in successful development programming involves data integration from disparate streams, innovative analysis for insight and evaluation, and the communication of results directly to key stakeholders and the population of interest.聽聽