Can Village Health Volunteers/Workers Working As Male-Female Pairs Improve the Use of Postnatal Care Services in the Lao People's Democratic Republic

Effectiveness of Village Health Volunteers/Workers Working As Male-Female Pairs on Women's Use of Postnatal Care Services in Sepone District in Lao People's Democratic Republic: a Protocol for a Quasi-experimental Cluster Study

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of male-female VHV/Ws working in pairs on women's uptake of second PNC visits in rural Sepone, Lao PDR.

Methods A quasi-experimental cluster study will be conducted between July 2024 and October 2026 in 37 selected sites from two districts in southern Lao PDR. In 19 selected intervention villages in the Sepone district, female-male VHV/Ws pairs will promote postpartum services, whereas, in 18 similar control villages in the Vilabuly district, VHV/Ws will work as individuals.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Pregnant Women; Lactating Mother
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Paired Community Health Workers

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 302
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Credo Ahissou, PhD; Phone Number: +818064827518; Email: Adelphahiss@gmail.com

Study Locations

• Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • Savannakhet, Lao People's Democratic Republic
    • Recruiting
    • Sepon and Vilabouly districts
    • Contact: Tiengkham PONGVONGSA; Phone Number: +8562055640403; Email: tiengkhampvs@gmail.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women who gave birth within six weeks and twelve months before the study's baseline and end-line surveys.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women whose births resulted in a loss,
• Women who do consent to participate in the surveys
• Women who face a language barrier with surveyors will not be enrolled.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Villages where Village Health Volunteers/Workers work as individuals
Experimental: Villages where Community Health Workers work in pairs	Behavioral: Paired Community Health Workers; Community Health Workers will promote maternal and child health services as paired female and male

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Uptake of second postnatal care visit	Second postnatal visit within 6 weeks after delivery in a health facility reported in maternal and child health handbook	6 weeks after delivery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Lenght of facility-based postpartum stay	Number of hours of stay in health facility after delivery	cutoff is 12 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of the Ryukyus

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 10, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 15, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 22, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): October 23, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 28, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 23, 2024
• Last Verified: October 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 24-2329-00-00-00

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No