TERMS OF REFERENCE -RAPID ASSESSMENT-NCDs
Consultancy, Research Jobs
- Youth Advocates Zimbabwe
- Expires 05 May 2023
- Bulawayo
- Full Time
Job Description
The prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) is significant in Zimbabwe.
Adults are most impacted by NCD outcomes. Adolescence is where the opportunities for prevention are. In Zimbabwe, children (defined as zero – 18 years) and adolescents (defined as 10-19 years) are the majority population group. Healthy, well-educated children and adolescents are a key asset and resource, to their families, communities and countries, Furthermore, because adolescents are future
parents, their health now, and the patterns of behavior and consumption they establish early-on are important to the health of the next generation.
Many of the behaviors that lead to adult NCDs commence during childhood and adolescence. Adolescence is a critical period of transition and opportunity for improving life chances. It is a period of opportunity, growth, exploration, and creativity. It is a time to build upon gains made in early childhood by investing in opportunities that contribute to a healthy, safe, informed, and empowered transition
into adulthood. Most NCDs are associated with behaviors that begin during adolescence, including tobacco and alcohol use, poor eating habits and choices, and la;ck of physical activity. Once established, these unhealthy behaviors tend to persist throughout life and become more difficult to change.
There is also well-established evidence that maternal health before and during pregnancy may affect the well-being of newborns and infants. Prematurity and low birth weight, maternal under nutrition and excessive gestational weight gain have a long-term impact on the child’s overall health and risk of NCDs. Thus, the earlier prevention that begins, from before conception, throughout pregnancy and early life, the better the longer-term chances of attaining good health. It is also critical to engage the family and community environments in which infants, children and adolescents develop to influence behavior, family attitudes, cultural practices and ;8social norms.
Yet there is limited evidence on the NCDs perceptions amongst Adolescents to inform key messages and strategies. Engaging young people is likely to ensure policies and efforts are better aligned to their needs. Interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors related to tobacco and alcohol use, diet and physical activity among children and adolescents, and where appropriate among women of reproductive age (WRA) will be required. To date, there has been less attention focused on these risk behaviors and on identifying effective interventions among children and adolescents. This is particularly true in Zimbabwe and other low and middle-income countries (LMICs), which bear the greatest burden of NCDs.
PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
Implementing partner for the Adolescents and Young People Health and Well Being Project - Youth Advocates, with technical and financial support from UNICEF, seek the services of a consultant/firm to conduct a baseline to understand the current knowledge, attitudes, practices, social norms of adolescents and young people in 4 target districts as well as the key behavioral and social drivers for adoption of recommended prevention behaviours related to non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. The overall objective is to use qualitative and quantitative methods to gather high quality community-sourced data on what people think, feel about NCD, perceived barriers, and motivators for prevention, and plan for potential solutions to increase confidence and uptake.
This study will help identify knowledge gaps, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours that can help inform MOHCC as well as other stakeholders in their strategies for supporting NCD prevention in the country. Important gender, inclusion dimensions and social norms will be considered during this study.
The evidence will be used to inform strategic recommendations for improving communication and community engagement strategies aimed at preventive behaviours, which will contribute to NCD prevention and assess to treatment and care in Zimbabwe. The findings will also be used for advocacy purposes and policy briefs.
Duties and Responsibilities
DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT (SCOPE OF WORK) / SPECIFIC TASKS
To meet the above stated objectives, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:
1. Review of the secondary data, from the desk review of studies undertaken for NCDs in Zimbabwe to both inform the study design and provide additional contextual analysis
2. Based on the desk review, propose methodology and sample frame, lead participatory process to get inputs from key stakeholders (caregivers and key influencers), including children and youth on key problems, desired behaviours, barriers, facilitators, key audience segmentation, and strategic approaches among other issues
3. Develop survey tools (qualitative and quantitative) and conduct training for data collectors
4. Coordinate data collection in two districts
5. Analyse data and draft segmented summary results for each district
6. Present consolidated final report.
Qualifications and Experience
The consultant will lead the overall collection and analysis of data from individuals and households through an agreed methodology. The firm will ensure timely collection, review and analysis of the data collected as per the agreed timelines. The required background and experience for the consultant is as follows:
I. Experience in KAP, social, economic and market research, including perception surveys at national and multi-country level.
II. Firm/Individual consultant with strong appreciation of the Behaviour and Social Drivers Model (BeSD)
III. Firm/Individual has teams with research leads with at least a master’s degree in Sociology, Public Health, Social Science Research, Development Communication, or any other related technical field with special expertise in qualitative and quantitative data collection, management, processing and analysis.
IV. Experience in conducting rapid assessments or similar assignments such as Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices surveys in-country or internationally.
V. Prior experience with the UN/UNICEF in a similar capacity will be an asset.
