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Table 1 Most significant change evaluations of public health research interventions

From: How beneficiaries see complex health interventions: a practice review of the Most Significant Change in ten countries

Name of project

Country

Intervention

Study design

Intervention participants

Number of stories

Sample

Recording method

Analysis

1. AIDS prevention for the choice disabled

(2008–2012)

Botswana Namibia and Eswatini

Structural intervention for primary HIV prevention among vulnerable young women

Cluster randomized controlled trial

75 communities (25 in each country) randomized to one or more of three interventions or control

89 BVV

76 FW

Purposive by country

Notes by story collectors

Hierarchical

Deductive thematic

2. Proyecto Buena Semilla

(2013–2019)

Guatemala

Women’s Circles to empower women as agents of change in their lives, families and communities

Parallel group non-randomized pilot study

> 230 in deliberative dialogue

> 550 in Women’s Circles

> 60 community health workers and traditional midwives

207

Purposive

Audio-recording by trained interviewer

Deductive and inductive thematic

3. Video edutainment & maternal outcomes in Toro, Nigeria

(2015–2020)

Nigeria

Universal home visits to pregnant women and their spouses

Cluster randomized controlled trial in stepped wedge design

Six wards in one local government authority. 33,000 households with population of 260,000.

23 women

21 men

14 visitors

6 govt officers

64 total

Purposive

Notes by story collectors

Hierarchical

Deductive and inductive thematic

4. Inter-ministerial National Structural Intervention Trial

2014–2018

Botswana

Structural intervention to reduce HIV infections, particularly among

marginalized young women

Cluster randomized controlled trial

Five intervention districts, total population of about 275,000

117 young women

Purposive

Notes by story collectors

Inductive thematic

5. Camino Verde dengue trial

(2008–2015)

Mexico & Nicaragua

Community mobilization for dengue prevention

Cluster randomized controlled trial

18,838 households in Nicaragua and Mexico with a total population of 85,182 residents

16 facilitators

Purposive

Self-recorded

Grounded theory; discourse analysis

6. Safe birth in cultural safety

(2015–2017)

Mexico

Support for traditional midwives including stipend, apprentices, cultural brokers

Cluster randomized controlled trial

8000 households

> 28 traditional midwives

> 29 midwife apprentices

> 17 intercultural brokers

84

Purposive

Notes by story collectors

Reflexive thematic

7. Pilot cultural safety training

(2016)

Colombia

Participation in community-based cultural safety training program

Qualitative descriptive study

13 final-year medical students

13

Universal

Self-recorded

Inductive thematic

8. Training in evidence-based planning

(2015–2016)

Botswana: participants from 14 SADC countries

Participation in course on evidence-based planning, including session on MSC technique

Course practical

64 Health planners and researchers (4 classes)

64

Universal

Notes by fellow students in pairs

Inductive thematic

9. Safe birth in post-conflict setting (2019–2020)

Uganda

Co-design of safe-birth intervention

Cross sectional study

3 service providers, 3 men, 3 women, 2 female youth, 3 male youth, 3 CHWs, 3 traditional midwives

20

Purposive

Notes by male and females story collectors

Inductive thematic

10. McGill Participatory Research course

(2016–2018)

Canada

Course on Participatory Research, including session on MSC

Course practical

75 graduate students (3 classes)

75

Universal

Self-recorded

Inductive and deductive thematic

  1. SADC Southern Africa Development Community. Countries represented on the courses: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Anglophone); Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar (Francophone); Angola, and Mozambique (Lusophone)