21 Aug Cohort Study Shows That PIVOT Support Improves Utilization And Content Of Care
In a recent publication in PLOS Medicine, lead author Camille Ezran reports on the content of maternal and child care in PIVOT’s intervention area compared with areas not yet receiving PIVOT support. Content of care is measured through accounts from caregivers and patients about tests performed, counseling provided, and medications prescribed during recent health consultations. Data for this study came from PIVOT’s longitudinal cohort, a cornerstone of PIVOT research, which allows us to measure the impact of our work on population health and mortality over time.
Ezran’s assessment shows that, between 2014 and 2016, care-seeking for sick children increased by 51% in areas where PIVOT works. This is a significantly larger increase than that seen in the parts of the district not yet receiving PIVOT support.
Attendance by women at antenatal and postnatal care visits increased as well. And, by most measures, Ezran was also able to demonstrate that the rate of delivery of expected services – including rates of medication prescription and diagnostic testing – had increased more in areas with PIVOT support than in those without.
PIVOT co-founder and Scientific Director Matt Bonds says of the publication, “Our study, led by Camille Ezran, presents some of the best evidence to date about how local health systems can rapidly increase both access to and quality of care for women and children in communities such as those that PIVOT serves in rural Madagascar.”