The Zithulele Research Team consists of three main projects that you can learn about below. The first project, ZiBFUS is a baseline study of what birth and infancy look like in this region. ZiMBA evaluates the work of the Philani Mentor Mother Programme in the area. ECSS evaluates the impact of additional training and supervision for the government-run community health worker programme.
Logistics |
Conducting research in an area with limited infrastructure and resources represents a unique challenge. However, the Zithulele Research Team has had great success in recruiting pregnant mothers into each study, and following them through birth and as their children grow.
The interviews for ZiBFUS, ZiMBA, and ECSS are all conducted by our team of data collectors in isiXhosa. The interview surveys are programmed onto cell phones allowing the data collectors to record participants responses, which are then immediately sent to an online research database. The program also records GPS coordinate information and the length of each interview. |
