Through Breakthrough RESEARCH, USAID’s flagship project for social and behavioral change research and evaluation, TEPHINET is partnering with Tulane University to conduct KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices) surveys in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador in urban and semi-urban areas where Zika has been detected as a potential health threat.

As one member of a consortium working on Breakthrough RESEARCH, Tulane University, which has been tasked with conducting research to better inform actions to address Zika outbreaks, has selected TEPHINET as its partner in this project as a result of a previous successful collaboration conducting HIV/AIDS surveys and TEPHINET’s experience working on Zika-related projects.

The objective of this study is to identify KAP behaviors of households, particularly women and children, in areas of high vulnerability to Zika and vector-borne diseases. Survey results will be relayed back to USAID for analysis and decision-making regarding future interventions around preventing Zika outbreaks.

Using GPS technology to identify households for random sampling, survey staff will conduct real-time data collection using tablets for immediate data upload and analysis. TEPHINET expects to train survey staff in the first half of July. The field training period will be followed by three months of data collection and two months of data analysis and reporting.

Currently, two studies already received IRB approval in Guatemala and El Salvador, and TEPHINET is recruiting project staff, including project coordinators at the regional and country levels. FETP graduates are preferred. The regional coordinator is a graduate of the Central America FETP, while the country coordinator in Honduras is the current FETP director (and also a graduate). For more information, contact Mariana Mansur at mmansur@tephinet.org.