Title:	Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights: Organizing Effective Responses (SRH Responses)
Keywords:	Organisation Sexual & reproductive health Health systems HIV/AIDS Gender & health
Country:	Netherlands
Institution:	The Netherlands - Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Amsterdam
Course coordinator:	Marielle Le Mat
Date start:	2024-04-08
Date end:	2024-04-30
About duration and dates:	3 weeks and 2 days. The last day of the course is the open book examination. On request and under some conditions, permission can be given to attend the last two days (and re-sit exam) remotely.
Classification:	advanced optional
Mode of delivery:	Face to face
Course location: KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam PO Box 95001, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-20-5688256. Fax +31-20-5688677 Website: http://www.kit.nl TropEd Representative: Lisanne Gerstel (L.Gerstel@kit.nl)
ECTS credit points:	4.5 ECTS credits
SIT: 126 Student Investment Hours (SIT): Contact hours in class: 44 hrs Contact hours online (zoom): 7 hrs Self-study hours: 73 hrs (including written examination) Exam hours (open book): 2 hrs
Language:	English
Description: At the end of the module, participants are able to: ● Describe and analyze components of effective SRHR responses, including to HIV/AIDS, in the context of health systems in low and middle income countries. ● Analyze existing SRHR services from the perspective of marginalized and vulnerable groups and provide recommendations on how to enhance equitable access and quality of care. ● Use evidence to formulate and clearly communicate context-appropriate strategies to address issues related to SRHR to diverse audiences (a news release for the general public and constructive feedback to peers).
Assessment Procedures: This module is assessed with three components. The final grade is a weighted average of the three examinations. There is a requirement to pass ( the news release (score 60%), but marks below 60% for feedback and or open book examinations will not result in a fail for the course as long as the weighted average is 60% or above. A. Open-book examination B. Prepare/write a news release (written assignment) C. Peer feedback on news release A. Open Book Examination (40%): • Question type and duration: two hours with essay-type questions. • The open book exam covers LO1 and LO2. • An online feedback session after grade release will be held for general feedback. B. News Release (40%): • Topic: Participants should write a news release on a specific SRHR topic (LO1 and LO3). It is an individually written assignment that students work on during self-study hours. • Length: 500 words, + 10%) • Students receive a personal feedback sheet for the news release and feedback. • A feedback session after grade release will be held for general feedback on the news release assignment, together with feedback on the open book exam C. Peer Feedback (20%): • There will be two rounds of peer feedback on two versions of the news release • Peer feedback drafts need to be uploaded online at specifically indicated times so as to allow peers to use their feedback. • Peer feedback on the News Release will be assessed based on a minimum quantity of four (4) feedback and the quality of feedback provided ● General rules & Instructions: All the components of the assessments have separate instructions. Example of the news release assessment task and instructions is in Annex 1 to this form. The student is required to attend at least 90% of the learning units. The final mark will be based on three assessments. Resit: Those students who fail can re-sit the open book exam and/or the news release on a specified date within 6 weeks after the grade was received.
Content: The module covers the following contents: (A Program Schedule is attached as Annex 2) • News release writing, communication • Organizing effective responses to SRHR • Monitoring and evaluation of SRHR programs • Key aspects of SRHR programs, e.g.: adolescents and youth-friendly health services, family planning, abortion, quality of care, maternal, new born, and child health, Gender Based Violence (GBV), Counseling and Testing and ART services, including attention to health advocacy and health promotion • Opportunities for synergies and considerations for integrations of services: e.g., Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission and Family Planning (FP), FP and sexual health, STIs and HIV • Continuum of Care models for SRHR • Reducing stigma and discrimination and ensuring sexual and reproductive rights • Enhancing accountability and participation of marginalized and vulnerable groups in organizing responses • Client-centered approaches to SRHR including motivational interviewing • Advocacy and community participation
Methods: A variety of learning methods are used, most importantly: • Interactive lectures (F2F and occasionally Zoom), that use a combination of lecturing and applying it in classroom exercises • Cross learning e.g., learning from each other’s experiences, reflection of students’ own experiences • Case studies, group work • Student presentations • Co-creation exercises • Online Q&A, discussion, peer feedback • Writing news release (assignment) • Practical exercise on how to do motivational interviewing (facilitated by GGD) The educational approach is based on the following principles: • Takes the knowledge and (working) experience of the participants as a starting point. • Is problem oriented and is focused on the practical application of the course content. • Is competency based: it is aimed at improving the competencies of participants to implement and evaluate context- specific approaches to address health problems.
Prerequisites: • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent academic training in either medicine or another field related to health care, such as health sciences, health economics, social sciences, or nursing. • A minimum of 3 years of health-related working experience in health systems not limited to (organization of) individual patient care but including involvement with public/global health, in resource constrained settings and/or with marginalized communities and proven interest in these areas. • English proficiency at the level of TOEFL 5.5 or IELTS 6.5 • Computer and internet literacy; the participant should be able to use a computer access to wifi networks, and working-level understanding of Microsoft Office software (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Adobe (PDF). Students will be introduced to the e-learning platform.
Attendance: • Maximum number of students: 34 • Maximum number of tropEd students: 5
Selection: • See under prerequisites • First come, first served basis
Fees: EUR 2.390
Scholarships: Nuffic: please check "Orange Knowledge Programme" (https://www.studyinholland.nl/scholarships/highlighted-scholarships/orange-knowledge-programme)
Major changes since initial accreditation: • Assessment weighting has changed; instead of having the news release 50% and open book exam 30%, from 2023 onwards the weighting is 40% and 40% for both exams, to reflect equal importance. This comes as a result of students overly focusing on news release at the cost of their results in the open book exam. • Content: in line with the developments in the field, a session was added on the uses and limitations of digital approaches to address menstrual health issues. This same session also includes an new learning method, which is a hackaton exercise. • Learning methods: the course now includes an interactive digital reflexive learning methods, in which students ‘co-create’ an overview of key principles to SRHR responses in an online mural board. This invites students to reflect at a higher/more distant level on the course content and draw commonalities between different sessions. Student evaluations are mixed; for some the activity was not clear (new method) whereas for others it was a useful reflection exercise. • Content: students were given the opportunity to sit in optional sessions about immunisation and infectious diseases, which are not core content of SRHR Responses. Student feedback revealed that these sessions were considered rather a distraction, so they have been removed from the programme and alternative (more relevant) sessions have been added.
Student evaluation: • Evaluations from the past two years (2020/21 & 2021/22) included: • The co-creation activity was much appreciated, but the objective was not clear to all students. • Although the immunization and infectious diseases sessions were optional, they were not very relevant. • Some sessions (maternal health and fragile settings) require students to prepare student presentations in groups. This preparation needed better emphasis and warning to students. Students might not have taken it seriously and this affects other students. • On the news release: • Students spent more time reading news releases rather than relevant literature. • Most students agree that It is good to learn about health communication in a language relevant to the public although some students felt the news release wasn’t the most relevant form of public communication for their work context.
Lessons learned: Based on module evaluations and more experience, the following changes were made: • Co-creation sessions were adjusted further to allow for clearer instructions and objectives Students were given multiple heads up about the importance of preparing for their student presentation classes (maternal health and fragile states sessions) • Revisited the instructions and weight of the news release assignment • Average contact time per sessions was adjusted to make room for self-study. Preparation instructions more clearly differentiate between required and optional
tropEd accreditation: Accredited in Amesterdam in October 2016. Reaccredited in Edinburgh in June 2018 and in Witten in June 2023. This accreditation is valid until June 2028.
Remarks: online applcation
Email Address:	L.Gerstel@kit.nl
Date Of Record Creation:	2013-06-28 03:14:02 (W3C-DTF)
Date Of Record Release:	2013-06-28 03:20:57 (W3C-DTF)
Date Record Checked:	2021-03-18 (W3C-DTF)
Date Last Modified:	2023-08-08 12:05:53 (W3C-DTF)