Paper short abstract:

It is recognised that the success of a health intervention depends on its local translation into practices. Drawing on results from the evaluation of an Informed Push Model for Family Planning in Senegal, this paper explores how anthropological approaches contribute to complex evaluations.

Paper long abstract:

It is today acknowledged that the success of Health programs depend on their local translation into practices, norms and policies. In this context, qualitative research gained visibility within impact evaluation designs. However is there room for Anthropology within qualitative evaluations in the field of Global Health? To what extent can Anthropology help integrating local communities implementing an intervention in evaluation processes? How can we in turn inform anthropological theories from health evaluation practices? The Maternal healthcare markets Evaluation Team (MET) at the LSHTM has been contracted by MSD for Mothers to evaluate the effect of a Family Planning distribution model using performance-based contracting on stock availability and Modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate in Senegal. MSD for Mothers and the Gates Foundation are providing funding to IntraHealth International to implement the IPM across Senegal. Private Operators have been introduced in the supply chain for Family Planning (FP) to deliver FP stocks and measure inventory. Payments to operators are based on their performance, with incremental penalties if stock-outs rise above 2%. In this framework, contractors may be reluctant to expose the challenges they are facing to researchers by fear of being "sanctioned". Beyond qualitative interviews, it is argued that ethnographic material can inform impact evaluations on lived experiences of individuals and communities contributing to implement Global health programs. By situating knowledge within the IPM supply chain and its inherent logistical structure, an anthropological approach triggers a socio-political understanding of how logisticians make sense of the statistics defining (and emerging from) their performance.