Current Sponsored Research Projects Evaluation of Orphan and Vulnerable Children through CBO program Effective dates: Oct 10, 2006 – October 9, 2009
Funding Source: Orphan Support Africa (OSA) via Gates Foundation
Tulane's Role: subcontracted by OSA
Region or Country (ies): Malawi
Principal Investigator(s): Kate Macintyre The partnership with Orphan Support Africa is currently in its final year. The overall goal is to assess over a three year period whether the OSA model program improves the well-being of OVC by building social capital through support to Community based organizations. The methods being used are a pre post test quasi-experimental design where intervention households are compared to control households at baseline, prior to the intervention, and are surveys again three years after the baseline. The specific objectives are: 1. To examine whether the OSA Approach program improves social capital both from the individual perspective and as measured at the village cluster level. 2a: To assess trends in youth outcomes including household food security, growth (of OVC aged 1-5), school attendance, school engagement, evidence of exploitation, and protective and risk behaviors. 2b: To determine if significant differences in these outcomes exist between non-orphan and orphaned OVCs or between male and female youth at baseline and across follow-up. 3a: To evaluate the association in changes in social capital with youth levels of evidence of exploitation, and protective and risk behavior. 3b: To determine whether the above relationships between social capital and youth health outcomes are moderated by demographics, household food security, youth gender and orphan status. The team comprises Kate Macintyre (IHD), Neil Boris (Psychiatry), Lisanne Brown (formerly of IHD, now Louisiana Public Health Institute), Christopher Beaudoin (Community Health Sciences), and Megan Littrell and Sawyer Pouliot (doctoral students in IHD). Final data collection and analysis is ongoing and will be complete by end of September. | 
