What Works for Women and Girls

Chapter 2.MethodologyOver the past five years, in addition to a wide array ofresearch, advocacy and position papers focusing on theneeds of women and girls, there has been an increase inthe number of strongly evaluated published interventionsthat have proven effective in reaching various groups ofwomen and girls and caring for their particular needs. Thefocus of this document is to gather the evidence of whatprograms have positive outcomes for women in HIV/AIDSprevention, treatment and care. This document reviews theevidence available on interventions and provides a summaryof the evidence, along with the supporting research thatdocuments the effectiveness of interventions designed toaddress the needs of women and girls.The Complexities of MeasuringWhat WorksKey Steps in the Methodology1. Conducted SCOPUS searcheson HIV and women2. Included searches of grayliterature from key websites/organizations3. Reviewed titles/studies forinterventions that hadoutcomes and wereevaluated—focusing on whatworks for women and girls4. Summarized relevant studies5. Used Gray Scale to evaluatestrength of evidence6. Sought extensive reviewby expertsMeasuring “what works” is complicated since the outcomesand impacts of interventions depend on a number of biological and proximate determinants(Boerma and Weir, 2005). Understanding the epidemiology of HIV, how it is spread andwho is at risk is critical for developing and evaluating successful interventions (Chin, 2007).The epidemiological concept of the reproductive number for HIV, R 01is a key component in1 “When, on average, one infected person infects more than one other person, R 0is greater than (>) 1 and the resultwill be epidemic spread of an agent [HIV]. However, when, on average, one infected person does not infectmore than one other person, R 0is less than (