Guidelines for Use of Narrative Survey Instruments to Improve MDA for Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination

Timothy Lynam – Reflecting Society, Townsville, Australia. Tim.Lynam@ReflectingSociety.org

Alison Krentel – Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada. akrentel@yahoo.ca

The target audience for these guidelines is district-level implementation agencies that are concerned with achieving their targets for mass drug administration. The purpose of these guidelines is to introduce the following.

• The concept of narratives and how they can be a valuable tool in understanding people’s health behaviors in the context of NTD control and elimination as well as in other programs;

• Why building partnerships for this research is so important and some of the key steps needed to develop effective collaborative relationships;

• The survey instrument used to collect these narratives, outlined in terms of its core components as well as specific survey questions that can be customized to fit the local context;

• The process of analyzing the quantitative and qualitative components of the questionnaire;

• The dissemination plan; and

• Additional resources