Advance Africa’s Approach to Best Practices

1. Advance Africa’s Approach to Best Practices FAWE TOT May 8, 2003

2. What is a “Best Practice”? -Brainstorming-

3. What is a Best Practice? Best Practice Compendium Criteria: A program intervention that demonstrates: • Measurable impact • Transferability to multiple settings

4. What is a Best Practice?Additional Key Principles • Partnerships and Linkages • Community-based Development • Sustainable • Political commitment • Ethical soundness • Relevance • Efficiency • Innovation • Significant scale • Balance of financial inputs and results • Specific Focus

5. Why are Best Practices Important? • To recognize and disseminate successful program interventions. • To assist program managers in identifying and selecting successful practices/programs to adapt for their own program needs. • To promote rigorous standards and evidence-based public health practices and programs.

6. Introducing the Best Practices Compendium • A searchable database of FP/RH interventions and tools • A collaborative effort by multiple agencies (BPAG) • Peer reviewed practices • Uses public health, not medical criteria

7. CONFIDENCE LEVEL: Evidence of Success and Transferability Best Practices Context Context Lessons Learned Promising Practices P R I N C I P L E S Context Pyramid of Best Practices in Public Health Interventions

8. Definitions Best practice: The “Gold Standard” that can be implemented to support program objectives. Quantitative/qualitative evidence of success Transferability Promising practice: Inconclusive evidence of success Replication unknown Endorsement by experts

9. Break for Role Play

10. BP Compendium: Start of a process for program improvement Adapt, Implement, Evaluate, Lesson Learned, Revise Identify a Best Practice Disseminate Revised BP Adapted from: The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Knowledge Management by Kathleen Foley Curley and Barbara Kivowitz