Evaluation of the project will consider existing literature, academic response to the program, statistical survey and focus group discussions. For epistemological perspective, an assumption will be made that current estimations and trends regarding infant mortality reflect existing performance of health programs addressing the issue (Avchen, Nonkin & Mason, 2004). The quantitative survey will be designed to assess perception regarding availability, quality and affordability of related services. Empirical analysis will involve a comparative analysis between the effectivity of the programs with other similar initiatives.
The attribution rate of the program as a factor in the reduction of infant mortality will be considered only if the literature validation of the program is presented academically. The focus group discussions to be composed of parents, professional directly involved with program, academics, nursing students and community representatives will serve as a platform of discussion of the evaluations derived form the qualitative and quantitative evaluations. The focus group discussions shall then serve as an oversight committee: an independent body to assess the status of programs and establish a social significance of the efforts of the program.
Data Collection For the qualitative evaluation of the study, literature regarding the urgency of the issue of infant mortality will be compared to assessments of the issue made three years after the implementation of the program. The survey that will be conducted semi-annually for the first three years of the program will be target 100 respondents regarding their perception of the program’s success. The focus group discussions will be conducted annually. The dialogues and consultations will entail the identification of needs and availability of resources to meet them.
Information to be used for these phases of evaluation will be acquired independently: the literature evaluation through a research group, the paper quantitative survey through a stratified random survey among stakeholders and the focus group discussion is to collate the information gathered from the two surveys for relevance. Allocation for variance will be flexible considering the disparity among the respondents in terms of awareness of health issues or perspectives. The underlying objectives is to create a continuous evaluation system to determine the efficiency and effectivity of the program Budget/ Logistics
The project scale is to include ten infants monthly to the program. Identification of subjects will be based on an assessment of risk ratio attributed to the economic conditions, education, health awareness and social capacity of the infant’s family (Patel et al, 2001). The schedule of costs below is estimated for the cost of health care exhausted in the effort to deter infant mortality. Figures are to be considered as expense caps rather than actual costs. To fund the project, 20% from the community, 30% private funding groups, 50% from government allocations for community-based health programs.
To be able to accomplish these functions, information must be provided at all levels. Orientation of parents to the baby’s needs must begin during pregnancy and continue until the child has passed infancy. Reading materials and support systems must be developed to afford parents basic information and the means to access further information or for consultation. Summary According to the study developed by the Poverty Organization, there is a need for programs to understand the implications of poverty to health to be able to create effective programs (“Executive Summary of Indicators”, 2006).
This implies that even if programs are made available and channels to deliver them are developed, there are still constraints to access to these services because of economic and social issues. Therefore, to be able to ensure that infants are able to get access to primary care needs, their parents must have the means and willingness to acquire these services for them. The importance of multicultural philosophy was first emphasized as a counseling issue: since culture influence the individual’s behavior, response and actuations, there is a need to consider its impact on individual and social levels (Vontress et al, 2004).
Nursing readily adapted the perspective considering its own experience: the close interaction of nursing professionals and patients particularly in terms of education and communicating issues to patients (Zarcadoolas et al, 2006). Infant mortality is not an independent issue but has implications regarding reproductive health of the society and its ability to support human growth and development. The research has chosen a framework that emphasizes education and the social consequence of the issue of infant mortality to emphasize that, whatever interventions are to be developed should be done in this context.
At the same time, there is a need for nursing professional to work collaboratively with existing programs and programs that are still being developed by health and social services as well as the community.
References
Avchen, Rachel, Nonkin Scott, Keith G. and Mason, Craig A. (2001). Birth Weight and School-age Disabilities: A Population-based Study. Am. J. Epidemiol. , Nov 2001; 154: 895 – 901 Blakely, Tony, Atkinson, June. Kiro, Cindy, Blaiklock, Alison and D’Souza, Amanda (2003).
Child mortality, socioeconomic position, and one-parent families: independent associations and variation by age and cause of death. Int. J. Epidemiol. , Jun 2003; 32: 410 – 418 Buckley, K. A. , Koontz, A. M. , & Casey, S (1998). Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Man Manual: A Guide for Communities. Washington, DC: National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program. California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (2003). Health Care Reform Principles: A Multicultural Approach 2003Oakland, CA: California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
Executive Summary of Indicators (2006). The Poverty Site. Retrieved on August 8, 2007, http://www. poverty. org. uk/reports/mpse%202006%20findings. pdf Fay, Brian (1996). Multicultural Philosophy of Social Science. New York: Blackwell Publishers Frey, Scott R. and Carolyn Field. (2000) The Determinants of Infant Mortality in the Less Developed Countries: A Cross-National Test of Five Theories. Social Indicators Research 52: 215-234. Friedman, M. M. , Bowden, V. R. , & Jones, E. J. (2003). Family nursing: Research, theory, & practice (5th ed. ).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Healthy People 2010 (2007). Leading Health Indicators Healthy People 2010. Retrieved on August 8, 2007, http://www. healthypeople. gov/LHI/lhiwhat. htm. Lambert, Vickie A. , Lambert, Clinton E. , Daly, John, Davidson, Patricia M. , Kunaviktikul, Wipada and Shin, Kyung Rim . (2004). Nursing Education on Women’s Health Care in Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand J Transcult Nurs, Jan 2004; 15: 44 – 53 Lang Caroline & Wilkinson, Sue (2000). Social Inclusion Fact Sheet. London: Museums & Galleries Commission