Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs
Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) Supplemental Grant #824
Request for Proposals (RFP) to conduct Baseline Survey for Gateway Behaviors
Introduction
This is an announcement for a Request for Proposals (RFP) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/ Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) to conduct the first survey of a longitudinal cohort study designed to test the “Gateway” effects of certain health behaviors.
The NURHI Supplemental Grant, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), aims to test causal relationships between Gateway Behaviors, Factors and Moments and multiple health outcomes, in order to design more cost effective and impactful interventions.
The primary scope of work in this RFP is to conduct a quantitative survey in one Local Government Area (LGA) in Ilorin, where the project will be implemented, and one control LGA. The RFP centers on the following key activities:
1.) Data collection
2.) Data input and cleaning of data sets
This RFP seeks to determine the capacity of various agencies and individual consultants in Nigeria to conduct the research as per the stipulations provided in this document. Capacity will be evaluated according to the criteria for evaluation of proposals as set out at the end of this document. Award of the contract will be made accordingly.
Program Background
Many health issues are directly affected by the health behaviors of individuals, families and communities. In order to increase the efficiency of behavior change programming and better utilize scarce resources, it would be advantageous to understand how one behavior may impact future lifestyle choices as “Gateways” to other positive health behaviors. Much of the Gateway research to date has focused on drug use or neatly eating and physical activity in developed countries but there is little research of behaviors relevant to the developing country context. The identification of Gateway Behaviors can lead to more cost-effective programming as targeted interventions will result in downstream effects on multiple desirable health behaviors.
During Phase I of the NURHI Supplemental Grant, a comprehensive literature and secondary analysis of three data sets was carried out to identify potential Gateway Behaviors, Factors and Moments Phase II of the project will implement activities designed to increase the identified Gateway Behaviors – and test the causal relationships with a number of outcome behaviors. The identified Gateway Behaviors are:
- Interpersonal communication with spouse, partner, family or peers
- Four or more antenatal care visits
- Family planning use these activities will occur in one city of Nigeria, Ilorin, from 2012-2014.
Description of the Panel Research
Study Design
The intervention research will use a longitudinal cohort design In order to capture change in individuals over the course of the intervention period. Interviews will be conducted with women aged 18-30, maternal and child health (MCH) care providers and female clients of those providers in one LGA of Ilorin. A control study will carried out in a different LGA of Ilorin.
Survey interviews will be conducted at two points in time: before the supplemental intervention activities begin and at the end of the intervention period. Both baseline and follow-up surveys will include measures of the Gateway Behaviors as well as a list of 15-20 outcome behaviors, including such things as number of antenatal care visits, spousal communication about family planning use, having received an HIV test, use of modem contraception, taking anti-malarial drugs during pregnancy, maternal immunization against tetanus, medically assisted delivery, delayed resumption of intercourse after delivery, breastfeeding initiation and practices, number of child immunizations within a recommended time period and hygiene behaviors,
Both baseline and follow-up surveys will also collect data on a variety of Gateway Factors, including gender-related attitudes, health seeking experiences, access to services and counseling and whether those services are integrated or not health competence, exposure to media and community characteristics.
The post-intervention survey will include a retrospective section through which we will explore the timing of key personal and family health decisions made by each woman over the course of the intervention period.
This RFP is for the first (baseline) survey only, to be carried out in 2012, Depending on performance, the consultant/agency may be selected to conduct the second (endline) survey in 2014.
Study Tools
CCP staff and consultants will develop the research Instruments, including a household questionnaire for women aged 18-30, a client exit questionnaire and an antenatal care provider questionnaire. We anticipate that the questionnaires will comprise no more than 50-60 questions and will lake about 60 minutes to
administer. It is expected that the consultant/agency will translate these tools into the appropriate local language.
Sample Size
The baseline survey will consist of three parts, in both the intervention and control communities:
1) Household interviews with 2000 women aged 18-30, randomly selected.
2) Client exit interviews with 800 women at MCH facilities,
3) Interviews with 300 antenatal health care providers the total sample size is 3100 (1550 in the intervention LGA and 1550 in the control LGA).
Complete household (HH) listings will be carried out for the selected clusters (EAs). The HH listings will provide the sampling frame for the selection of households to Include in the survey. The second stage of sample selection will take place in the selected HHs. For HHs included in the sample frame, the interviewer will list all women in the HH aged 18-30, all eligible women will be selected for an interview.
All facilities providing ANC services in the intervention and control LGAs in Ilorin will be included in the study. Up to three ANC providers at each facility providing ANC services will be interviewed.
The interviews will be conducted in local languages by trained interviewers. The consultant/agency should ensure that the interviewers for the household survey and client exit interviews are female. Interviewers for the facility interviews for the facility interview may be male or female.
Deliverable
The following items will be delivered to NURHI:
1) Final survey instruments in English and the local language.
2) Interviewers’ and Supervisors’ Manuals.
3) A field report outlining any unusual or unforeseen events and circumstances that emerged during the survey,
4) Cleaned and fully labeled data sets in SPSS version 15.0 (or higher) or stata SE11 (or higher).
5) Dictionary of a8 variable and value labels in English
6) Signed consent forms from all participants,
7) All completed questionnaires.
Scope of Work
The contracting agency/consultant will be responsible for the following activities:
1) Translate the survey instruments into the appropriate local language, following discussion and agreement with NURHI staff, and back translate them into English, NURHI staff will then compare the original version with the back translated version and suggest further changes until an equivalent version b prepared.
2) Draft and finalize Interviewers’ and Supervisors Manual (to be reviewed by CCP staff)
3) Secure permission from community leaders in the intervention and control communities to conduct the study
4) Obtain human subjects training from the LHU-approved Collaborate Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) or document receipt of training in human subjects research ethics within the past 3 years
5) Obtain human subjects approval from a certified institutional review panel in Nigeria.
6) Recruit experienced quantities interviewers, train and supervise interviewers, supervisors and other survey staff. Organize logistics for the training of staff, which will co-facilitated with (NURHI)
7) Pretest the questionnaires and revise accordingly (including local language adjustments) as part of the field staff training
8) Create the data entry template for the 3 different survey types, Finalize the template with NURHI staff prior to data collection.
9) Create the data codebook with information on the variable and value labels for all 3 surveys. Update as necessary.
10) Conduct ANC facility listings.
11) Conduct household listings.
12) Field the surveys over a three- or four-week period between September 3, 2012 – September 28, 201 2 (final dates to be agreed upon with CCP staff).
13) Edit, code, and enter the data.
14) Enter tracking data in a separate data file.
15) Provide all deliverables as noted above.
Preparation and Submission of Bids
All bids must be typewritten and presented in the following format:
a) Cover letter A one-page cover letter signed by responsible official of the bidding agency. The letter must contain the name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number and other relevant contact information of the bidder,
b) Introduction; A brief overview of the assignment as understood by the bidder and a brief statement of the bidder’s overall technical approach.
c) Detailed technical proposal: A detailed plan for accomplishing the tasks as described in the scope of work, including a description of:
– Plan to address sampling requirements
– Recruitment process for survey staff
– Training plan for field teams
– Contingency plans in case of problems in the field e.g. bad weather
– Data entry procedures
– How quality control measures will be instituted
d) A timetable for completion of major activities, including persons responsible for each activity, completion dates, and a schedule of deliverable.
e) Capability statement background and other relevant information that qualifies me consultant/agency to undertake such an assignment. Experience with similar projects and in using the techniques specified above should be provided. The bidder must also indicate the individual staff members assigned to this project and their relevant experience.
f) Budget and Budget Justification: A detailed line-item budget in MS Excel for completing the activities proposed under the technical proposal, a justification in a narrative format should accompany the budget to explain how each budget line item was established. The budget will include (but is not limited to):
– Agency management fees
– Training costs
– Field work costs
– Transport costs
– Supplies, and
– Data processing costs.
g) Reference: A list of at least three former or current clients for whom similar work has been done, together with their addresses and telephone numbers.
h) Annexes Any documents, such as curriculum vitae or other information, which the bidder thinks wit assist the proposal review team in evaluating the proposal may be attached as annexes.
Length of proposal
Sections (b) through (e) must not exceed 10 pages, single spaced, minimum 12 point font (in Times New Roman or Arial). Budgets should be provided in Excel format. Applications that exceed the page limit or those not conforming to these guidelines will not be read.
Submission of Bids
Complete proposals (electronic copy) must be submitted no later than 5:00pm on 9th August, 2012 by email to Hilary Schwandt at hschwand@jhsph.ed and include “Baseline Survey for NURHI Supplement proposal on the subject line of the e-mail.
Contact Info
If you have any questions concerning this request for bids, please contact the JHU/CCP or NURHI Office at (ST JAMES HOUSE, Plot 1109/Na. 167 Cadastral Zone A08, Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja), or at; nurhiproject@nurhi.org
JHU/CCP reserves the right to add or delete information, or otherwise amend the contents of this RFP during the period of preparation of proposals, JHU/CCP reserves the right to extend the period specified for presentation of proposals, JHU/CCP reserves the right not to make any award if it so chooses, for whatever
reason JHU/CCP reserves the right to replace the selected agency for the second wave,
All proposals once submitted, shall constitute firm offers and may not be retracted for a period of ninety (90) days following their submission. It is understood that bidders assume the cost of preparation and submission of proposals.
Evaluation of Bids and Selection of Contractor
JHU/CCP will establish a technical review team to assess all proposals in terms of the following criteria:
Experience
Overall experience of the agency 10 points
Experience in related research 15 points
Expertise & experience of proposed team 10 points
Quality of references provided by previous clients 10 points
Total Experience 45 points
Proposed work plan
Sampling plan 10 points
Recruitment & training of staff 15 points
Data entry plan 10 points
Measures adopted for quality control 10 points
Timeline 5 points
Quality of written language 5 points
Total Work plan 55 points
JHU/CCP plans to award the contract to the bidder that offers the best value, cost, and all other factors considered. JHU/CCP reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received and to award no contract as a result of this RFR JHU/CCP will not pay or reimburse agency/consultant for proposals submitted.
