In cooperation with the Zambian Central Board of Health, the Quality Assurance Project investigated the way in which job aids could increase compliance with IMCI regulations throughout the country. Zambia was one of the first countries to train providers in IMCI, which resulted in a significantly higher number of health care workers already equipped with these skills and knowledge. As a result, the country was a logical choice for this initiative. In fact, several WHO-developed IMCI job aids, including chartbooks, wall charts, recording forms, and mother cards were already being used in Zambia at the beginning of our analysis. Chartbooks provide the official definition of IMCI guidelines and include recommended drugs and dosages. As a result, other African countries began to realize the importance of improved job materials, which would enable providers to implement IMCI.

The study, which was comprised of three stages, focused upon collecting information about provider opinions and their use of the IMCI job aids. This helped in developing and testing materials according to scientfic design principles. The initial stage consisted of assessing the effectiveness and usage of existing IMCI job aids. Thereafter, the new IMCI job materials were both developed and introduced. Finally, following the introduction of the NOPD book, the effectiveness and usage of the updated job aids were reassessed. The following document outlines the methods and results from the three individual stages.