Dissemination and Data Use

MEASURE DHS disseminates research results and facilitates their use in program design and evaluation through participatory seminars, audience-centered materials, web-based tools, and other technologies that translate data into information accessible to a wide range of audiences. Dissemination activities include:

National Seminar Presentations

MEASURE DHS staff work with national survey implementers to create a series of PowerPoint presentations that summarize the major findings of each of the chapters of a DHS, AIS, or SPA report. These presentations are usually given by representatives of the implementing agency, Ministry of Health, or other coordinating organizations at the national seminar. These presentations are usually distributed locally for use among interested parties.

Print Materials

DHS staff create a variety of additional print materials to complement the final survey report. The usual package of materials for a survey includes:

• Key Findings Report - a shorter, easy to read report highlighting the major results of the survey through text, tables, and charts;
• General Fact Sheet - a brochure with graphs of the major findings of the survey;
• HIV Fact Sheet - in countries with HIV prevalence data, a brochure with graphs and explanatory text for the major HIV-related findings;
• Other Fact Sheets - include brochures on topics like family planning, gender, or youth;
• Wall Chart - a poster of the major findings, with graphs, photos, and easy-to-read text; often a table of the major indicators by region is included.

Depending on the needs of the country, other print materials can be developed, such as policy briefs, topic-specific summary reports and fact sheets, or posters aimed at different audiences.

Regional and Topical Seminars

A one-day summary of DHS findings often does not provide enough depth or opportunity for discussion, so DHS also provides assistance in the coordination of regional or topical seminars to follow the national seminar.

Regional Seminars: Presentations are tailored to specific regions, highlighting comparisons between regions within a country, or trends over past surveys. These more focused meetings often allow an opportunity for greater discussion among those working in the field.

Topical Seminars: As the topics covered in DHS surveys grow, specific groups are often in need of an opportunity to bring their specific field together for a more focused review findings relevant to that field. For example, topical seminars have been held to discuss gender, malaria, HIV/AIDS, family planning, Maternal and Child Health, and Youth. DHS staff can help in the creation of appropriate presentations and workshop materials, as well as the logistical arrangements and facilitation of the meetings.

Working with Media

MEASURE DHS staff works with the media, both in the United States and internationally to disseminate survey results as widely as possible. When country survey results are released, national media representatives are always invited to national seminar presentations, and DHS staff provide them with press releases and additional information to support news stories, such as the “Journalists’ Guide to DHS Statistics. When possible, DHS staff help to organize press briefings which allow for a question and answer period between local journalists and the key researchers and government officials. Journalists are encouraged to contact DHS staff for assistance and story ideas.

In some cases, DHS staff also run a more formal journalists’ training. This usually consists of a half-day workshop in which local TV, newspaper, and radio journalists learn about the major results of the survey, brainstorm story ideas, and learn how to wade through the tremendous amounts of survey tables. In Ethiopia, for example, eleven journalists representing Ethiopia TV (ETV), the Ethiopia News Agency (ENA), the Ministry of Information, Ethiopian Radio, and 2 of the major daily papers, the Daily Monitor and the Capital, spent a half day following the national dissemination discussing the results and planning how to include DHS data in their future stories. Media trainings help to ensure that DHS findings are accurately represented in national media, as well as provide capacity building to journalists who often have little experience with statistics.

Curricula

It is not enough to carry out a large-scale survey and display the final report on a bookshelf. DHS results are meant to be used to improve and monitor programs and policies. DHS staff have developed a number of curricula to assist local stakeholders in understanding and using DHS data.

As an example, a curriculum based on the 2003-04 Tanzania HIV/AIDS Indicator Survey (THIS) has reached hundreds of professionals working in HIV/AIDS and related fields. MEASURE DHS staff partnered with Pact International, Pathfinder, and the Tanzania Commission on AIDS to create, pilot test, and carry out a three-day training aimed at HIV/AIDS program staff. The curriculum includes a detailed instructor’s guide, and a variety of activities and handouts. The activities lead the group through the major findings of the THIS, and helps participants consider how the findings can be used in their work, whether it be through program planning, budgets, educational programs, or policy implementation.

Web-Based Dissemination

As the world becomes increasingly connected via the internet, it has become more essential to share survey results on the MEASURE DHS website. Once country reports are finalized and results are disseminated nationally, survey reports and all supporting dissemination documents are posted on the MEASURE DHS website. Survey data are added to the STATcompiler, HIV/AIDS Survey Indicator Database, STATmapper and HIVmapper. The PowerPoint presentations given at national seminars can often be made available by request.