Participatory development of a target policy profile to support soil-transmitted helminth elimination

Introduction

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are parasitic worms that infect nearly a quarter of the world's population, particularly those living in communities without access to adequate water, sanitation, and housing. Emerging evidence suggests that it may be possible to interrupt transmission of STH by deworming individuals of all ages via community-wide MDA (cMDA), as opposed to only treating children and other focal populations. Transitioning from a policy of STH control to STH elimination in targeted areas would require a fundamental shift in STH policy and programming. This policy change would require updated guidance to support countries as they adapt their current approaches for STH surveillance, supply chain management, community mobilization, and core programmatic activities in pursuit of STH elimination. There is an opportunity to engage with key stakeholders, such as program implementers and implementation partners, to understand what evidence they need to confidently adopt a new policy guideline and to deliver guideline adherent management at scale.

Methods

We aimed to engage with STH stakeholders to develop a Target Policy Profile (TPoP), a single document that describes optimal characteristics and evidence requirements that STH stakeholders prioritized in future potential STH transmission interruption efforts. Steps in TPoP development included a scoping review and key informant interviews (KIIs), which were used to design a two-stage Delphi technique to identify and verify TPoP components.

Results

The scoping review resulted in 25 articles, and 8 experts participated in KII's. Twenty respondents completed the first Delphi survey and 10 respondents completed the second. This systematic effort resulted in a net of 3 key information domains (background/context, clinical considerations, and implementation considerations) encompassing 24 evidence categories (examples include evidence regarding safety and adverse events, implementation feasibility, or evidence dissemination). For each evidence category, STH stakeholders reviewed, endorsed, or revised a range of options for how the evidence could be presented.

Discussion

This information can be used by guideline committees or global policy makers prior to convening guideline advisory groups. The TPoP tool may also speed the process of stakeholder consensus building around guidelines, accelerating progress towards implementing evidence-based policy at scale.

Identifying opportunities to optimize mass drug administration for soil-transmitted helminths: A visualization and descriptive analysis using process mapping

BACKGROUND

The control of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) is achieved through mass drug administration (MDA) with deworming medications targeting children and other high-risk groups. Recent evidence suggests that it may be possible to interrupt STH transmission by deworming individuals of all ages via community-wide MDA (cMDA). However, a change in delivery platforms will require altering implementation processes.

METHODS

We used process mapping, an operational research methodology, to describe the activities required for effective implementation of school-based and cMDA in 18 heterogenous areas and over three years in Benin, India, and Malawi. Planned activities were identified during workshops prior to initiation of a large cMDA trial (the DeWorm3 trial). The process maps were updated annually post-implementation, including adding or removing activities (e.g., adaptations) and determining whether activities occurred according to plan. Descriptive analyses were performed to quantify differences and similarities at baseline and over three implementation years. Comparative analyses were also conducted between study sites and areas implementing school-based vs. cMDA. Digitized process maps were developed to provide a visualization of MDA processes and inspected to identify implementation bottlenecks and inefficient activity flows.

RESULTS

Across three years and all clusters, implementation of cMDA required an average of 13 additional distinct activities and was adapted more often (5.2 adaptations per year) than school-based MDA. An average of 41% of activities across both MDA platforms did not occur according to planned timelines; however, deviations were often purposeful to improve implementation efficiency or effectiveness. Visualized process maps demonstrated that receipt of drugs at the local level may be an implementation bottleneck. Many activities rely on the effective setting of MDA dates and estimating quantity of drugs, suggesting that the timing of these activities is important to meet planned programmatic outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Implementation processes were heterogenous across settings, suggesting that MDA is highly context and resource dependent and that there are many viable ways to implement MDA. Process mapping could be deployed to support a transition from a school-based control program to community-wide STH transmission interruption program and potentially to enable integration with other community-based campaigns.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT03014167.

Evaluation of opportunities to implement community-wide mass drug administration for interrupting transmission of soil-transmitted helminths infections in India

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organization Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) guidelines recommend control of soil transmitted helminth (STH)-associated morbidity with targeted deworming of preschool and school-aged children who are disproportionately affected by STH-associated morbidity. However, this strategy leaves many adults untreated and reinfection within communities perpetuates transmission even when mass drug administration (MDA) coverage of children is high. Evidence suggests that it may be possible to interrupt STH transmission by expanding MDA to a community-wide MDA (cMDA).

METHODS

This multi-methods study of organizational readiness survey, key informant interviews, and program mapping, were conducted with government stakeholders in three Indian states, Goa, Sikkim, and Odisha, to assess readiness of the states for transitioning from school-based MDA to cMDA and identify opportunities to leverage existing infrastructure from other NTD programs like lymphatic filariasis (LF) for STH cMDA.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Overall, all three states indicated a highly favorable policy environment, effective leadership structure, adequate material resources, demonstrated technical capacity, and adequate community infrastructure needed to launch a STH cMDA program. The findings indicated a high-level of health system readiness to implement provided human resources and financial resources to deliver cMDA is strengthened. Areas with a significant overlap between LF and STH MDA platforms, particularly at the community-level, may be best primed for transitioning. Immunization, maternal child health, and non-communicable disease control programs were the other programs for possible integration of cMDA. States indicated having effective leadership structures in place at the state-level, however, engaging local leaders and community groups were considered crucial for successful implementation of cMDA. In-migration was a perceived challenge for estimating drug requirement and preventing possible stockouts.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this study are intended to proactively support government decision making, prioritization, and program planning across heterogenous implementation contexts in India to speed the translation of research findings into practice.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT03014167; ClinicalTrials.gov.

Policy stakeholder perspectives on barriers and facilitators to launching a community-wide mass drug administration program for soil-transmitted helminths

BACKGROUND

Recent evidence suggests that soil-transmitted helminth (STH) transmission interruption may be feasible through community-wide mass drug administration (cMDA) that deworms community members of all ages. A change from school-based deworming to cMDA will require reconfiguring of STH programs in endemic countries. We conducted formative qualitative research in Benin, India, and Malawi to identify barriers and facilitators to successfully launching a cMDA program from the policy-stakeholder perspective.

METHODS

We conducted 40 key informant interviews with policy stakeholders identified as critical change agents at national, state/district, and sub-district levels. Participants included World Health Organization country office staff, implementing partners, and national and sub-national government officials. We used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to guide data collection, coding, and analysis. Heat maps were used to organize coded data and differentiate perceived facilitators and barriers to launching cMDA by stakeholder.

RESULTS

Key facilitators to launching a cMDA program included availability of high-quality, tailored sensitization materials, and human and material resources that could be leveraged from previous MDA campaigns. Key barriers included the potential to overburden existing health workers, uncertainty of external funding to sustain a cMDA program, and concerns about weak intragovernmental coordination to implement cMDA. Cross-cutting themes included the need for rigorous trial evidence on STH transmission interruption to gain confidence in cMDA, and implementation evidence to effectively operationalize cMDA. Importantly, if policy stakeholders anticipate a cMDA program cannot be sustained due to cost and human resource barriers in the long term they may be less likely to support the launch of a program in the short term.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, policy stakeholders were optimistic about implementing cMDA primarily because they believe that the tools necessary to successfully implement cMDA are already available. Policy stakeholders in this study were cautiously optimistic about launching cMDA to achieve STH transmission interruption and believe that it is feasible to implement. However, launching cMDA as an alternative policy to school-based deworming will require addressing key resource and evidence barriers. Trial registration This study was registered in the U.S. National Library of Medicine Clinical Trials registry (NCT03014167).

Defining optimal implementation packages for delivering community-wide mass drug administration for soil-transmitted helminths with high coverage

Background

Recent evidence suggests that community-wide mass drug administration (MDA) may interrupt the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STH), a group of intestinal worms that infect 1.5 billion individuals globally. Although current operational guidelines provide best practices for effective MDA delivery, they do not describe which activities are most essential for achieving high coverage or how they work together to produce effective intervention delivery. We aimed to identify the various packages of influential intervention delivery activities that result in high coverage of community-wide MDA for STH in Benin, India, and Malawi.

Methods

We applied coincidence analysis (CNA), a novel cross-case analytical method, to process mapping data as part of the implementation science research of the DeWorm3 Project, a Hybrid Type 1 cluster randomized controlled trial assessing the feasibility of interrupting the transmission of STH using bi-annual community-wide MDA in Benin, India, and Malawi. Our analysis aimed to identify any necessary and/or sufficient combinations of intervention delivery activities (i.e., implementation pathways) that resulted in high MDA coverage. Activities were related to drug supply chain, implementer training, community sensitization strategy, intervention duration, and implementation context. We used pooled implementation data from three sites and six intervention rounds, with study clusters serving as analytical cases (N = 360). Secondary analyses assessed differences in pathways across sites and over intervention rounds.

Results

Across all three sites and six intervention rounds, efficient duration of MDA delivery (within ten days) singularly emerged as a common and fundamental component for achieving high MDA coverage when combined with other particular activities, including a conducive implementation context, early arrival of albendazole before the planned start of MDA, or a flexible community sensitization strategy. No individual activity proved sufficient by itself for producing high MDA coverage. We observed four possible overall models that could explain effective MDA delivery strategies, all which included efficient duration of MDA delivery as an integral component.

Conclusion

Efficient duration of MDA delivery uniquely stood out as a highly influential implementation activity for producing high coverage of community-wide MDA for STH. Effective MDA delivery can be achieved with flexible implementation strategies that include various combinations of influential intervention components.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08080-5.

Structural readiness to implement community-wide mass drug administration programs for soil-transmitted helminth elimination: results from a three-country hybrid study

Background

Current soil-transmitted helminth (STH) control programs target pre-school and school-age children with mass drug administration (MDA) of deworming medications, reducing morbidity without interrupting ongoing transmission. However, evidence suggests that STH elimination may be possible if MDA is delivered to all community members. Such a change to the STH standard-of-care would require substantial systems redesign. We measured baseline structural readiness to launch community-wide MDA for STH in Benin, India, and Malawi.

Methods

After field piloting and adaptation, the structural readiness survey included two constructs: Organizational Readiness for Implementing Change and Organizational Capacity for Change. Sub-constructs of organizational readiness include change commitment and change efficacy. Sub-constructs of organizational capacity include flexibility, organizational structure, and demonstrated capacity. Survey items were also separately organized into seven implementation domains. Surveys were administered to policymakers, mid-level managers, and implementers in each country using a five-point Likert scale. Item, sub-construct, construct, and domain-level medians and interquartile ranges were calculated for each stakeholder level within each country.

Results

Median organizational readiness for change scores were highest in Malawi (5.0 for all stakeholder groups). In India, scores were 5.0, 4.0, and 5.0 while in Benin, scores were 4.0, 3.0, and 4.0 for policymakers, mid-level managers, and implementers, respectively. Median change commitment was equal to or higher than median change efficacy across all countries and stakeholder groups.

Median organizational capacity for change was highest in India, with a median of 4.5 for policymakers and mid-level managers and 5.0 for implementers. In Malawi, the median capacity was 4.0 for policymakers and implementers, and 3.5 for mid-level managers. In Benin, the median capacity was 4.0 for policymakers and 3.0 for mid-level managers and implementers. Median sub-construct scores varied by stakeholder and country.

Across countries, items reflective of the implementation domain ‘policy environment’ were highest while items reflective of the ‘human resource’ domain were consistently lower.

Conclusion

Across all countries, stakeholders valued community-wide MDA for STH but had less confidence in their collective ability to effectively implement it. Perceived capacity varied by stakeholder group, highlighting the importance of accounting for multi-level stakeholder perspectives when determining organizational preparedness to launch new public health initiatives.

Trial registration

NCT03014167

"Being a Person of Color in This Institution Is Exhausting": Defining and Optimizing the Learning Climate to Support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Washington School of Public Health

Learning climate greatly affects student achievement. This qualitative study aimed to understand community definitions of climate; share lived experiences of students, faculty, and staff; and define priority areas of improvement in the University of Washington School of Public Health (UWSPH). Between March-May 2019, 17 focus group discussions were conducted–stratified by role and self-identified race/ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation–among 28 faculty/staff and 36 students. Topics included: assessing the current climate, recounting experiences related to roles and identities, and recommending improvements. Transcripts were coded using deductive and inductive approaches. Race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation appeared to affect perceptions of the climate, with nearly all respondents from underrepresented or minoritized groups recounting negative experiences related to their identity. Persons of color, women, and other respondents who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) frequently perceived the climate as “uncomfortable.” Most felt that UWSPH operates within a structural hierarchy that perpetuates white, male, and/or class privilege and “protects those in power” while leaving underrepresented or minoritized groups feeling like “the way to move up… is to conform” in order to not be seen as “someone pushing against the system.” Improvement priorities included: increasing community responsiveness to diversity, equity, and inclusion; intentionally diversifying faculty/staff and student populations; designing inclusive curricula; and supporting underrepresented or minoritized groups academically, professionally, and psychologically.

Development and application of an electronic treatment register: a system for enumerating populations and monitoring treatment during mass drug administration

We developed an electronic treatment register for the DeWorm3 Project, a cluster-randomised, controlled trial in Benin, India, and Malawi testing the feasibility of interrupting transmission of soil-transmitted helminths through community-wide mass drug administration. The electronic treatment register was designed in xlsform, deployed via the SurveyCTO mobile data collection platform, and implemented on smartphones running the Android operating system. The versatile system enables collection of census and treatment status information, facilitates data aggregation and visualisation, and permits real-time feedback loops during implementation of mass drug administration. Here we describe the system’s design and use within the DeWorm3 Project and key features, and by sharing the register here, we hope our readers will further explore its use within their research and disease-control activities.

Evaluating and optimizing the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR) for use in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) is a determinants framework that may require adaptation or contextualization to fit the needs of implementation scientists in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The purpose of this review is to characterize how the CFIR has been applied in LMIC contexts, to evaluate the utility of specific constructs to global implementation science research, and to identify opportunities to refine the CFIR to optimize utility in LMIC settings.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was performed to evaluate the use of the CFIR in LMICs. Citation searches were conducted in Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science. Data abstraction included study location, study design, phase of implementation, manner of implementation (ex., data analysis), domains and constructs used, and justifications for use, among other variables. A standardized questionnaire was sent to the corresponding authors of included studies to determine which CFIR domains and constructs authors found to be compatible with use in LMICs and to solicit feedback regarding ways in which CFIR performance could be improved for use in LMICs.

RESULTS

Our database search yielded 504 articles, of which 34 met final inclusion criteria. The studies took place across 21 countries and focused on 18 different health topics. The studies primarily used qualitative study designs (68%). Over half (59%) of the studies applied the CFIR at study endline, primarily to guide data analysis or to contextualize study findings. Nineteen (59%) of the contacted authors participated in the survey. Authors unanimously identified culture and engaging as compatible with use in global implementation research. Only two constructs, patient needs and resources and individual stages of change were commonly identified as incompatible with use. Author feedback centered on team level influences on implementation, as well as systems characteristics, such as health system architecture. We propose a "Characteristics of Systems" domain and eleven novel constructs be added to the CFIR to increase its compatibility for use in LMICs.

CONCLUSIONS

These additions provide global implementation science practitioners opportunities to account for systems-level determinants operating independently of the implementing organization. Newly proposed constructs require further reliability and validity assessments.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO, CRD42018095762.

Effects, equity, and cost of school-based and community-wide treatment strategies for soil-transmitted helminths in Kenya: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

School-based deworming programmes can reduce morbidity attributable to soil-transmitted helminths in children but do not interrupt transmission in the wider community. We assessed the effects of alternative mass treatment strategies on community soil-transmitted helminth infection.

METHODS

In this cluster-randomised controlled trial, 120 community units (clusters) serving 150 000 households in Kenya were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive albendazole through annual school-based treatment targeting 2-14 year olds or annual or biannual community-wide treatment targeting all ages. The primary outcome was community hookworm prevalence, assessed at 12 and 24 months through repeat cross-sectional surveys. Secondary outcomes were Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura prevalence, infection intensity of each soil-transmitted helminth species, and treatment coverage and costs. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02397772.

FINDINGS

After 24 months, prevalence of hookworm changed from 18·6% (95% CI 13·9-23·2) to 13·8% (10·5-17·0) in the annual school-based treatment group, 17·9% (13·7-22·1) to 8·0% (6·0-10·1) in the annual community-wide treatment group, and 20·6% (15·8-25·5) to 6·2% (4·9-7·5) in the biannual community-wide treatment group. Relative to annual school-based treatment, the risk ratio for annual community-wide treatment was 0·59 (95% CI 0·42-0·83; p<0·001) and for biannual community-wide treatment was 0·46 (0·33-0·63; p<0·001). More modest reductions in risk were observed after 12 months. Risk ratios were similar across demographic and socioeconomic subgroups after 24 months. No adverse events related to albendazole were reported.

INTERPRETATION

Community-wide treatment was more effective in reducing hookworm prevalence and intensity than school-based treatment, with little additional benefit of treating every 6 months, and was shown to be remarkably equitable in coverage and effects.

FUNDING

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Joint Global Health Trials Scheme of the Medical Research Council, the UK Department for International Development, the Wellcome Trust, and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation.

Evaluating the sustainability, scalability, and replicability of an STH transmission interruption intervention: The DeWorm3 implementation science protocol

Hybrid trials that include both clinical and implementation science outcomes are increasingly relevant for public health researchers that aim to rapidly translate study findings into evidence-based practice. The DeWorm3 Project is a series of hybrid trials testing the feasibility of interrupting the transmission of soil transmitted helminths (STH), while conducting implementation science research that contextualizes clinical research findings and provides guidance on opportunities to optimize delivery of STH interventions. The purpose of DeWorm3 implementation science studies is to ensure rapid and efficient translation of evidence into practice. DeWorm3 will use stakeholder mapping to identify individuals who influence or are influenced by school-based or community-wide mass drug administration (MDA) for STH and to evaluate network dynamics that may affect study outcomes and future policy development. Individual interviews and focus groups will generate the qualitative data needed to identify factors that shape, contextualize, and explain DeWorm3 trial outputs and outcomes. Structural readiness surveys will be used to evaluate the factors that drive health system readiness to implement novel interventions, such as community-wide MDA for STH, in order to target change management activities and identify opportunities for sustaining or scaling the intervention. Process mapping will be used to understand what aspects of the intervention are adaptable across heterogeneous implementation settings and to identify contextually-relevant modifiable bottlenecks that may be addressed to improve the intervention delivery process and to achieve intervention outputs. Lastly, intervention costs and incremental cost-effectiveness will be evaluated to compare the efficiency of community-wide MDA to standard-of-care targeted MDA both over the duration of the trial and over a longer elimination time horizon.