Standards and Guidelines
Jhpiego has worked in more than 40 countries to develop, adapt and
disseminate up-to-date, evidence-based reproductive health standards and guidelines
on issues such as family planning,
essential maternal and newborn health care,
HIV/AIDS,
infection prevention and control,
malaria prevention and
treatment, and cervical cancer prevention
and treatment. The
development and use of these standards and guidelines have been a crucial aspect
in improving health care services and reducing barriers to high-quality care worldwide.
- Standards describe what action
should be taken and serve as benchmarks against which to judge performance.
- Policy guidelines for reproductive
health care are a government’s official statement about the country’s standards and
reflect the health care situation in the country. They describe which services are
offered, who delivers and receives the services, how and where they will be delivered,
and what the minimal acceptable level of performance is for each service offered.
- Service delivery guidelines provide
the detailed, technical information needed to implement the national policy
guidelines. Health care providers use service delivery guidelines in their
work as a source of specific, up-to-date information about the health services
offered in a country as well as a source of general information to provide
high-quality care.
Jhpiego uses a participatory approach, which fosters in-country
participation and ownership, to the development and implementation of standards
and guidelines. The process engages a country’s key stakeholders, decision-makers
and other leaders to ensure responsiveness to the country’s needs and to foster
the broad acceptance necessary for implementation by health care providers.
Standards and guidelines are also critical elements in reproductive health
education and training, serving as the foundation
for curriculum development in both
preservice education and training of practicing professionals. They lead to
improved quality of service delivery and ultimately to the reduction of
long-term disability and death in the most vulnerable populations. Evaluation studies conducted in a number of
countries—including Bolivia, Brazil (Bahia and Ceará states), Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Peru and
Turkey—have demonstrated the impact and sustainability of guidelines developed and disseminated with Jhpiego’s assistance.
More Information
For related Jhpiego publications and materials, see
Publications. For additional
information on Jhpiego's experience and capabilities in this area,
contact us.
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