Italian Association Amici di Raoul Follereau (AIFO)

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 AIFO's Research Projects

Welcome to Research pages of AIFO/Italy. AIFO mainly supports operational research based on principles of health systems research linked to its field projects in developing countries. Here you will find information and reports about these AIFO supported research activities. All the research work supported by AIFO follow specific Ethical Guidelines.

On-Going Research Projects

(1) Manual on using emancipatory research approach in CBR: the first draft version of this manual is available for download in PDF format. Please feel free to share it with other persons and organisations who may be interested. Send your feedback and examples for the manual latest by end of January 2012. All the persons who will provide significant comments and/or examples for the manual will be acknowledged in the final version. For any questions, clarifications write to: sunil.deepak(at)aifo.it

(2) S-PARK/CBR research initiative on impact of CBR in a district in south of India: This research focuses on impact of ten year long CBR activities in district with 1.8 million population and 22,000 persons with disabilities benefiting from those activities. This research is part of joint workplan between Disability & Rehabilitation team of World Health Organisation (WHO/DAR) and AIFO/Italy. The research has three components - (1) a quantitative research (2009-10); (2) an emancipatory research (2010-11); and (3) Pilot integration of emancipatory research methodology in the CBR projects (2011-12). Read more about this research.

Completed Research Projects

(1) Multi-country research on training needs of CBR (community-based rehabilitation) workers and/or volunteers: This multi-country research took inspiration from the CBR matrix to find out the opinions of CBR workers/volunteers in different countries regarding their training needs. 13 projects from 7 countries participated in this research. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire in the beginning of 2009. Data entry and data analysis has been done and final report of this research is available (May 2011). The research was coordinated by Dr Sunil Deepak. Read more about this research.

(2) Opinions of persons benefiting from different activities of AIFO supported CBR activities in six provinces of Vietnam: As part of mid-term evaluation of a CBR project co-funded by Italian Foreign Ministry, about 2000 persons benefiting from different activities of this project were asked their opinions about the impact of the CBR project on their lives in early 2010. Data entry and data analysis has been done and final report of this research is available (September 2011). Read more about this research.

(3) Roles and challenges of community health workers (feldschers) in Mongolia: Mongolia is a huge country with very low population density. AIFO has been working with Ministry of Health, national federation of persons with disabilities and other partners in Mongolia, since 1992 for the National Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programme. Community-health workers play a key role in the CBR programme. Research on role of community-health workers was carried by a consultant, Ms. Elena Como in September 2010. Data entry and data analysis has been done and final report of this research is available (September 2011). Read more about this research.

(4) Multi-country research on "New Paradigm of health care for persons with disabilities": Based upon the WHO document from 2002, "Innovative care for persons with chronic conditions", this research used case-studies approach to look at greater role of persons with disabilities in their self-care. Seven (7) projects in 6 countries - ASODPSIE/Colombia, ALMES/El Salvador, KARIGIRI/India, CIMUDIS/Domenican Republic, University of Modena/Italy, CARDOS/Ethiopia and TASH/India, completed this research in 2007. The research was carried out jointly by AIFO/Italy and WHO/DAR in collaboration with Disabled Peoples' International (DPI). The research was coordinated by Dr Sunil Deepak. You can read the final report of this research (2007, PDF).

(5) Multi-country research on "Implementing community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in low income and slum areas": This participatory action research on feasibility and usefulness of CBR approach in urban low income and slum areas was carried out in 8 projects in 7 countries - Alexandria/Egypt, La Paz/Bolivia, Makassar South Sulawesi/Indonesia, Mumbai/India, Nairobi/Kenya, Quezon city/Philippines, Salvador/Brazil and Santarem/Brazil. The research was carried out jointly by WHO/DAR and AIFO/Italy and was coordinated by Dr Sunil Deepak. You can read the final report of this research. (2002, PDF)

If you have any questions regarding any of the research activities of AIFO/Italy, you can write to Dr Sunil Deepak, head of the Medical and Scientific office of AIFO at: sunil.deepak(at)aifo.it