Terms of Reference and Work Plan
Assessing the value of counseling
IPPF would like to invite applications to develop a tool to assess the value of its counseling services. If you are interested, please reply to Alison Mckinley, Evaluation Officer (
‘+’amckinley’+’@’+’ippf.org’+’
amckinley(at)ippf.org
) with an expression of interest that outlines your approach to meeting the terms of reference below. Applicants that meet the relevant criteria will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Please submit expressions of interest by close of business on Friday June1st 2012.
Background
IPPF is a global service provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all. Our Strategic Framework (2005-2015) is organized around five priority areas known as the five ‘A’s’: adolescents, HIV and AIDS, abortion, access, and advocacy. Additionally, three change goals have been identified to further focus the Federation’s direction: Unite – to promote, defend and monitor sexual and reproductive health and rights; Deliver – to double IPPF’s services by 2015; and Perform – to ensure the effectiveness, relevance and accountability of the Federation.
Between 2005 and 2010, IPPF Member Associations provided over 50 million contraceptive counseling services, over 80 million non-contraceptive counseling services and approximately 56 million specialized counseling services on subjects including sexuality and gender-based violence. These services generate demand for other sexual and reproductive health services but are also invaluable in their own right for empowering clients to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. While IPPF uses models to estimate impact from contraceptive, abortion and obstetric services, there is no equivalent, internationally recognized methodology for counseling services. This project will therefore investigate how IPPF can assess the value of its counseling services. Demonstrating this will support IPPF’s resource mobilization and business development, build capacity of Member Associations, strengthen our performance culture and contribute knowledge to the sexual and reproductive health field.
This work plan aims to develop a methodology to measure the value of IPPF’s clinical and specialized counseling services. From a rights-based perspective, the predominant outcome of interest is the empowerment of people to make informed decisions, in addition to the uptake of services or goods. The methodology developed must capture the client’s perception and experiences of the value of counseling using mixed methods as appropriate. While results must be internally valid (repeatable and transparent), external validity (for generalizations and inferences) is not essential. A pilot of the methodology will be carried out by the successful candidate but it should be designed so as to be suitable for use by Member Association staff.
The funds will be used to engage a consultant in impact assessment to:
1) work with the Organizational Learning and Evaluation team in IPPF’s Central Office to develop the methodology
2) pilot the methodology in one or more Member Association(s)
3) amend the methodology as appropriate following the pilot and present the final methodology to IPPF, with accompanying user manual / other documentation as required
Aim
The overall aim of this project is to assess the value of IPPF’s counseling services, supporting continuous learning for the Federation.
Objective 1:
To design a methodology which identifies the service providers’ and clients’ perception of and terminology for empowerment outcomes of counseling services, using qualitative data collection strategies.
Output 1:
Data collection methodology (with user guide) to establish priority outcomes of counseling in each unique context
Objective 2:
To design a data collection tool to measure the prevalence of the priority outcomes identified using output 1
Output 2:
Data collection methodology (with user guide) to establish the prevalence of priority outcomes of counseling in each unique context
Objective 3:
To work with IPPF staff to establish priority common themes of counseling outcomes at Federation level so that results from individual implementations of the methodology (outputs 1-2) can be mapped to these, enabling aggregation of data to IPPF Regional / Federation level.
Output 3:
Identification of priority common themes of counseling outcomes and a tool to map these to outcomes of individual methodology implementations (outputs 1-2) such that their prevalence at Federation level can be estimated.
Objective 4:
To pilot the complete tool (outputs 1-3) in one or more IPPF Member Association(s). As data collection methodology, particularly of qualitative data, is not easily transferable from one location to another, the piloting of the tool should highlight where and how the tool might be modified for use in different contexts.
Output 4:
The final tool (outputs 1-3) with user guide / methodology, and a written summary of the pilot testing and lessons learned
Methodology
Neither the methodology used to develop the tool nor the methodology of the tool itself is pre-determined. However, the following is suggested:
- Literature review of the theory of change / impact of counseling, including service provision and empowerment, as well as review of literature of similar methodologies in use
- Interviews with service providers in the field regarding the content of counseling sessions and the value they perceive
- Interviews with clients in the field about the counseling services they have received and their perception of the value and changes brought about
- From the above, identification of pertinent outcomes for the tool to measure and development of methodology to capture these
- Piloting of the tool in the field
- Debriefing presentation to IPPF OLE team, to include summary of the final tool and recommendations
Timeline
The consultant’s time will be spread across 12 months (July 2012 to June 2013). There will be travel involved in the tool’s development and piloting, most likely in the Western Hemisphere Region (WHR) – Central and South America.
Roles and Responsibilities
IPPF Secretariat (Central and Regional Offices):
- Provide necessary documentation
- Facilitate communication and contact between the consultant, the Regional Offices and the Member Associations participating in the work plan
- Assist in organizing travel logistics
- Organizational Learning and Evaluation team: advise, support and provide feedback on the design of the counseling assessment tool
Consultant:
- Conduct a desk based review of documents (both IPPF internal documents and relevant published literature)
- Consult with IPPF Central Office to gain a clear understanding of challenges and opportunities around the assessment of counseling services.
- Conduct field based key informant interviews and piloting of tools in selected IPPF Member Associations.
- Provide expertise in assessment for the purposes outlined above
- Identify suitable methodology to assess counseling and design data collection systems for collecting these
- Complete the deliverables as specified above
Consultant’s Experience and Qualifications
IPPF will engage one consultant or research institute to oversee the work plan between June 2012 and June 2013. The successful candidate with have:
Essential:
- Experience in evaluation / impact assessments, and designing and implementing qualitative and quantitative methodologies
- Excellent writing, analytical and communication skills
- Sensitivity to different cultural and religious contexts
- Ability to present complex information in a systematic way
- A proven record of delivery of results within the defined time frame
- Fluency in written and spoken English
Desirable:
- Experience of developing user-friendly tools for a wide and varied audience
- Experience of research and / or previous publications in sexual and reproductive health, ideally in counseling
- Fluency in written and spoken Spanish
Contact details
Alison Mckinley, Evaluation Officer: Data Quality
Organisational Learning and Evaluation
International Planned Parenthood Federation
Central Office
4 Newhams Row
London SE1 3UZ
United Kingdom
tel +44 (0) 20 7939 8225
Email:
‘+’amckinley’+’@’+’ippf.org’+’
amckinley(at)ippf.org