Service delivery
Monitoring and evaluation
The goals of monitoring and evaluation of HIV testing and counselling services are to:
- increase the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of services delivered by providers;
- improve the availability, accessibility and acceptability of testing and counselling services and their use by clients.
An important objective of M&E is to provide managers and decision-makers with information enabling them to improve or scale up service delivery. HIV testing and counselling services should consider developing M&E as part of the planning process. Monitoring and evaluation strengthen the quality of services, covering methods for assessing service accessibility, site monitoring, country evaluation of HIV testing techniques, the adequacy of protocols, activity levels and patient flow. Included are all interactions from entry to exit of HIV testing and counselling services, ethical guidelines, referral use, return rates, follow-up and various methods of quality assurance (e.g. tools for counsellors, the competency of staff, including laboratory staff, and client satisfaction).
Systems for information management are required for M&E and the data gained can be used to reconfigure services as required.
Tool
Tools for Evaluating HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing (UNAIDS 2000)
This document comprises a series of tools, in the form of questionnaires and checklists, for the evaluation of VCT. These can be altered and/or adapted as required. There are 8 tools that include: evaluation for the national preparedness for VCT implementation; VCT site evaluation - logistic considerations and coverage; evaluation of counsellor selection, training and support; evaluation of counselling skills (pre-test, post-test, no test); evaluation of counselling for special interventions (TBPT, MTCT); evaluation of group work; evaluation of client satisfaction; evaluation of VCT costs. There is also a section on difficulties that may be encountered when attempting supervision or viewing of counselling sessions for quality assurance.
Evaluating Programs for HIV/ AIDS Prevention and Care in Developing Countries (FHI 2001)
The areas of evaluation that are included are service delivery, counselling and testing protocol adequacy, staff performance, service accessibility and barriers, service use, sources of data, outcome and impact evaluation. This document is available in English and French in HTML form or PDF file format from the external site.
Guidelines for Using HIV Testing Technologies in Surveillance
This is an overview guide on aspects to consider when testing for HIV in surveillance. The text includes a general outline for selecting a testing strategy (including linked and unlinked testing), selecting tests for evaluation and three phases of country evaluation of HIV testing technologies. It provides a list of how to's and recommendations.
Handbook of Indicators for HIV/AIDS/STI Programs (USAID 2000)
This handbook presents indicators for monitoring and evaluating USAID-supported programs. For each indicator, definitions, data sources, purposes, strengths and limitations are described. The handbook is designed to include indicators to measure the key aspects of the USAID HIV/AIDS portfolio. As many country programs only address part of this portfolio, users of the handbook should choose those indicators that are appropriate for monitoring and evaluating their programs.