Student Applied Projects

Learn more about the HGNLP student applied projects.

2023-2024 Applied Projects

Burama Badjie

Applied Project Title: Strategies to Increase Skilled Health Workers in Rural Gambia

Maternal mortality is unacceptably high in The Gambia, with 500 deaths per 100,000 live births. This is due, in large part, to an inadequate number of skilled birth attendants in rural health regions. Most skilled birth attendants are located in urban regions where they work for the private sector. This project focused on ways to attract more skilled birth attendants to rural areas of the country, with the goal of reducing maternal mortality and improving health outcomes. Specifically, the report explored creating incentives such as annual awards and hardship allowances, as well as mandatory minimum rotations, to recruit and retain these critical workers.

Fatoumata Bah

Applied Project Title: Strategies to Increase the Number of Skilled Health Care Workers in The Gambia

In The Gambia, lack of an adequate health workforce leads to poor quality care and an unacceptably high number of preventable deaths. Currently, the nurse-to-patient ratio of .6/1,000 is far less than the WHO recommended 2.5/1,000. Nurses and midwives continue to leave the country due to poor working conditions and other financial stressors. This project focused on ways to address these challenges by uniting stakeholders from the public and private sectors to train more second-level nurses and midwives, and provide motivation for them to remain in the country, thus improving health care access and outcomes.

Chancy Banda

Applied Project Title: Reducing the Growing Incidence of Diabetes in Malawi

Cases of diabetes are rising rapidly in Malawi. In 2021, an estimated 4,800+ people, or 7.3% of the population, were living with diabetes. That number is expected to double by 2030. Most patients are not diagnosed and develop complications, which contribute to poor health outcomes and increasing financial strain on the health care system. This project explored strategies to control the rapidly growing number of new cases of diabetes, including the implementation of robust diabetes-specific health education campaigns and development of a digital platform for social and behavioral change communication to increase awareness of, and access to, prevention, screening, early treatment and management of this highly prevalent, chronic disease.

Tabu Chirwa-Gonani

Applied Project Title: Promoting User Feedback to Improve Health Care Quality and Delivery in Malawi

Research suggests that the vast majority of people in Malawi are unhappy with the country’s health care services. This project explored the feasibility of developing a mobile phone mechanism to encourage patients to provide feedback on the health services they receive. Feedback would be used to improve Malawi’s health care delivery system leading to greater public trust and user satisfaction. The project builds a working coalition of community leaders, health care workers, and the Ministry of Health to develop a policy framework in which consumers are aware of their rights and can easily provide confidential feedback using a variety of secure digital platforms.  The feedback can help the Ministry of Health and health care providers be more accountable and improve quality of care continuous improvement initiatives.

Francoise Chantal Melanie

Applied Project Title: Improving Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in the Seychelles

Although the Seychelles has made progress toward improving Universal Health Coverage, the national health profile indicates an increase in teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and sexually transmitted infections, including new HIV infections among adolescents and young people. This project focused on the creation and implementation of a dedicated digital platform to address adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights (ASRHR). The website will provide comprehensive sexual education, as well as access to related health services. It provides a safe and innovative way to reach young people, empowering them with the knowledge to make informed decisions about their health and improve Seychelles’ ASRHR indicators.

Getrude Mwambui

Applied Project Title: HPV Self-Test Community-Based Screening Model: Leveraging a Community Health Strategy and Digital Solutions to Increase Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake

Cervical cancer is the second-most diagnosed cancer in Kenya and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality with an incidence of nearly 2,500 cases per year and annual deaths of more than 1,650. With low screening rates, and a majority of women seeking treatment when cancer is in an advanced stage, incidence of this preventable disease will continue to grow. This project examines implementation of an HPV DNA self-test to improve cervical cancer diagnostic rates at the primary level. Self-test kits will be distributed to all women of reproductive age, packaged and collected, with positive cases referred for immediate treatment. The innovation incorporates a digital platform to accelerate advocacy, tracking and dissemination of cervical cancer information and resources.

Lydia Kakungulu Namuteb

Applied Project Title: A Comprehensive Outreach Program to Improve Vaccine Coverage in Uganda

Inadequate vaccine coverage is a pressing issue in Uganda’s health care system, particularly in remote and underserved areas. This project proposed the creation of the Comprehensive Immunization Outreach Program (CIOP) to bridge existing gaps and significantly improve vaccine coverage. The multi-faceted program combines mobile vaccine clinics, specialized training for local community health workers, an education campaign targeting mothers and caregivers, data monitoring, and community feedback. Increased immunization coverage will improve health care access, reduce the risk of disease and lower health care costs.

Olivia Ogoma

Applied Project Title: Roving Provider Initiative: An Intervention to Improve Access to Family Planning among Youth and Adolescents in Migori County

Teenage pregnancy, births and their associated negative outcomes remain serious problems in many countries, including Kenya. In rural Migori County, approximately 24% of girls aged 15-19 have begun childbearing. Access to family planning plays a critical role in mitigating teen pregnancies and maternal mortality, but only about 17% of adolescents in Migori County use these methods. This project examined strategies to increase the availability and accessibility of a wide range of family planning services for young people, meeting the need to prevent, space and reduce pregnancy in this age group. Intervention strategies include a roving provider service to make access to family planning more convenient, and a WhatsApp platform where adolescents could call providers directly, securely, and discreetly.

Patricia Obiajulu Onianwa

Applied Project Title: Strategies to Alleviate the Shortage of Skilled Birth Attendants-Midwives and Nurses at Primary Health Care Centers in Nigeria

In southwest Nigeria, 36,000 women die every year from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Due to a critical shortage of skilled personnel in the region’s rural health centers, only one in three births is attended by skilled birth attendants-midwives. This applied project focused on ways to increase the number of skilled birth attendants-midwives and nurses at primary health care centers to improve maternal, infant and child morality rates. Strategies include posting midwives and nurses from teaching and state hospitals to rural health centers on a rotational basis to support staffing levels, ensure standards of practice, and improve clinical quality.

Chala Sadi

Applied Project Title: Promoting Awareness and Use of Family Planning to Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality in Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s high maternal mortality rate of 401 per 100,000 lives births impacts individuals, families, and society. Major causes include inaccessible services, low-skilled health care delivery, and limited use of family planning. Increasing contraceptive coverage can reduce maternal and child death rates by up to 40%. This project explored ways to improve awareness of, and access to, family planning methods to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate and lower maternal mortality. Specifically, the plan calls for the development and deployment of culturally sensitive messages to be communicated via radio and social media to address knowledge gaps and decrease unwanted pregnancies and their associated complications.

2022-2023 Applied Projects

Tereza Baley

Applied Project Title:  Improvement of Midwives Abilities to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Ethiopia

The midwifery workforce plays a critical role in meeting women’s sexual, reproductive, and maternal health care needs. High caliber midwifery education is crucial to guaranteeing midwives are properly trained. Because Ethiopia has a high rate of maternal mortality, it is important to strategically advance and expand upon prior initiatives. This project explored ways to invest in the Ethiopian health system’s human resources component to drive change in the education of midwives. Specifically, changing midwife training to be competency-based and updating the curriculum. The goal is to help midwives become more skilled and competent so they can deliver high-quality, timely care, particularly at the primary care level in Ethiopia.

Gezashign D. Kassa

Applied Project Title: Unmet Need of Family Planning

Maternal morbidity and mortality rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world. Family planning is one of the most effective ways to reduce this trend by shielding women from unintended pregnancies. This project examined how Ethiopia could improve its family planning policies, integrate them into other health care services, increase accessibility to, and improve the quality of, contraceptives, and build capacity among health care providers. Recommendations include standardized training for health personnel, creation of a uniform scope of practice for nursing and midwifery, establishment of professional councils and creation of a nursing act and code of conduct. Kassa believes these interventions would result in a higher standard of care, lower rates of maternal and child mortality, and simple and accessible family planning for all women in Ethiopia.

Joseph Jatta

Applied Project Title:  Improving Maternal Health Outcomes in Remote Rural Communities in The Gambia

The maternal mortality rate in The Gambia is exceptionally high, especially in rural and remote communities. This project looked at ways to improve maternal health outcomes in those regions by training community members to administer basic care; strengthening primary health care structures; training and deploying more community health nurses; and improving health education around family planning issues. The initial focus of the project identified and trained designated community members to administer basic maternal services, including ante-natal, labor, delivery and post-natal care. Jatta will be working with the Ministry of Health in the Gambia to partner with schools of nursing to recruit large numbers of students to ensure a reliable pipeline of well-trained and educated nurses and midwives moving forward.

Judy Khanyola

Applied Project Title: Policy Reform to Strengthen Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Care in Rwanda’s Health Care System

In its current form, the health care system in Rwanda cannot meet the needs of the country’s population, resulting in high levels of non-communicable diseases. This project focused on transforming the public and primary health care delivery model from one focused on illness to one focused on wellness. To do so, Khanyola proposed harnessing the collective strength of Rwanda’s 10K nurses and midwives and 58K community health workers. Specific recommendations call for the creation of dedicated nursing staff at Butaro District Hospital to provide ongoing disease prevention and wellness care to families, as well as nurses to link with community health nurses at health centers and health posts in rural and remote regions throughout the country. Khanyola recommends appointing a chief nursing and midwifery officer to lead this transformation.

Patrick N. Kpanyen

Applied Project Title: Construction of Public Health Screening Center at Ganta Border in Liberia 

Border infections remain the single biggest challenge in low-income countries including Liberia. Evidence links cross-border infections with a lack of border health screening infrastructure and systems for early detection of diseases of international public health concern, including the Ebola virus and COVID-19. This project focused on strategies to increase border screening facilities and management systems with the goal of controlling, preventing and curtailing huge outbreaks caused by single undetected infections. Kpanyen recommended initial efforts be centered on constructing a health screening and referral center on the Ganta Border post – the busiest ground crossing point in the country. Kpanyen and his team at the Ministry of Health in Liberia will establish an innovative mechanism to bolster the smooth operation and realization of the country’s existing infectious disease prevention policies.

Thokozire Lipato

Applied Project Title: Strengthening Midwifery Competencies for Midwife Educators 

In Malawi, poor quality health care contributes to an unacceptably high maternal mortality rate. Most of these women die due to pregnancy-related complications despite access to health care services. This project examined ways to strengthen competency-based midwifery education and support faculty development, with a goal of zero maternal deaths by 2030. Three phases of implementation included: 1) an assessment of midwifery educator competencies at Mulanje Mission College of Nursing and Midwifery, identifying areas of improvement; 2) a review of the college curriculum to ensure it meets international standards; and 3) development and implementation of a mentorship program to sustain the project and help consolidate skills and competencies among midwifery educators.

Simangaliso Mafa

Applied Project Title: Resurgence of Vaccine Preventable Diseases Among Religious Objectors

In Zimbabwe, a 2022 measles outbreak claimed nearly 700 lives. Many of these deaths were due to vaccine skepticism and avoidance, especially among religious objectors. This project examined one group in particular – Johane Marange Apostolic Church members in Mutorashanga – who believe in spiritual healing and refuse to vaccinate their children, resulting in preventable diseases such as measles. Recommendations included engaging church leadership and followers, appointing a health ambassador, a community working group, political leaders, and other stakeholders to explore solutions.  The expected benefit is to reduce measles morbidity and mortality, increase vaccine acceptance rates and change people’s health-seeking behavior.

Omar Manjang

Applied Project Title: Making Hand Washing a Habit Among Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women of The Gambia: At Key Junctions

Hand washing prevents the spread of germs and disease, and many lives could be saved if there was a way for the Ministry of Health in The Gambia to encourage pregnant and breastfeeding women to wash their hands with soap and water at key junctures. In The Gambia, only about 31% of household members have access to a hand washing facility that includes soap and water. Additionally, many new mothers do not understand the extent to which hand washing can prevent infections and death in their vulnerable newborns. This project was designed to change behavior through a variety of interventions and government actions, including continuous professional development of nurses and health care workers; mandatory counseling programs for pregnant women, new mothers and their spouses; and the installation of more hand washing stations with clean water and soap across the country.

Lucy Mkutumula

Applied Project Title: Introducing an Accelerated Training Program for Direct Entry Diploma Level Community Health Nurse/Midwives in Malawi 

Currently, Malawi has a critical shortage of community health nurses and midwives (CHNM) mainly due to inadequate production. This gap contributes to poor health outcomes across the country. Increasing the number of CHNMs will improve access to health services at the community level, especially among underserved areas, helping to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates. This project looked at ways to address this staffing gap through implementation of an accelerated training program for CHNMs at 10 colleges across Malawi. Each college plans to recruit 100 students per year for four years, resulting in 4,000 new CHNMs, with financial support from the Ministry of Health in Malawi. This will address the problem of inequitable access to health services for underserved populations and help Malawi attain Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Mary Consolata Ishepe Nandili

Applied Project Title: Use of Mobile Phones to Enhance the Uptake of Skilled Birth Attendance in Reducing Maternal and Infant Deaths

Maternal mortality is one of the biggest public health concerns in low- and middle-income counties in Kenya. This project focused on using mobile phones to enhance the uptake of skilled birth attendance in reducing the rate of maternal and infant deaths. The technology would be used to track, supervise and monitor pregnant women, sending them reminder messages about pre-natal care and other health-related information. While the ultimate goal is to save lives through more effective maternal health care delivery, benefits could extend to all segments of society who could use the technology to prevent disease and improve health.

Nyangi Philemon Ngomu

Applied Project Title: Improving Risk Management for Staff Health and Safety at the UN Duty Stations in South Africa 

The South African health system faces challenges exacerbated by poor socio-economic factors that result in a high risk of violence and injuries for citizens and visitors. This project focused on assessing and mitigating these risks for United Nations staff working and living in Pretoria and satellite offices. The proposed intervention included four steps: a risk management assessment to identify potential threats to staff; development of an improved Risk Management Framework with appropriate measures to lessen those threats; providing staff with tools and training to protect their health and safety; and regular monitoring and review of risk management practices to ensure ongoing compliance with regulations.

Francisca Okafor

Applied Project Title: Implementation of the Nursing Component of the National Surgical, Obstetric, Anesthesia and Nursing Plan (NSOANP): Building the Capacity of Peri-Operative Nurses for Cesarean Section

Nigeria has a severe shortage of health care professionals who provide surgical care, including nurses, which means most people who need surgical care do not receive it. In response, the government created the National Surgical, Obstetric, Anesthesia and Nursing Plan (NSOANP) to integrate these four areas of care into the national health system. Okafor became a certified Trainer in the Federal Ministry of Health’s Training the Trainers Program to provide safe surgical, obstetrics, anesthesia nursing care in primary and secondary health facilities. Okafor’s project developed strategies to implement the NSOANP’s nursing component through capacity development, mentoring and supervision of the nursing workforce involved in providing cesarean sections in clinics and hospitals across Nigeria. Okafor believes these strategies will result in increased surgical coverage, recruitment and retention of adequate numbers of nurses, build their skills in cesarean section management, and support advanced participation of nurses along the surgical care spectrum in Nigeria.

Dolorence Wakida

Applied Project Title: Policy Reforms Toward Strengthening the Capacity of Human Resources for Health at Leura School of Nursing and Midwifery and Ibulanku Health Centre IV, Ibulanku Community, Busoga Region, Eastern Uganda 2023-2025

Access to health services in rural Uganda is poor but could be improved through the development of a well-trained, motivated and resilient workforce of nurses and midwives. This on-going policy project examined strategic ways the Ugandan government could address the country’s critical shortage of nurses and midwives in rural health facilities, which has impeded progress toward attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage by 2030. Recommendations include policy reforms around workforce planning and development; nurse education and training; nursing and midwifery leadership; and nursing and midwifery curricula to emphasize public health, starting with the Leura School of Nursing and Midwifery and the Ibulanku Health Center IV and the Ibulanku Community in the Busoga Region of eastern Uganda.

Benjamin Yamusah

Applied Project Title: Addressing Inadequate Antenatal Care Services for Pregnant Women in the Chereponi District

A lack of antenatal care in rural areas of Ghana contributes to a high rate of maternal deaths. This project assessed potential strategies to improve the situation in the Chereponi District, including reassigning more midwives to facilities in the region, recruiting more midwives, offering motivation and retention packages, retraining general nurses and community health nurses as midwives, and pursuing regulatory interventions to administer licensing of qualified nurses and midwives. Yamusah believes these solutions, when implemented properly, will significantly improve access to, and quality of, antenatal services for pregnant women in the Chereponi District, and reduce maternal mortality.