Referrals’ Effectiveness

This indicator measures the proportion of children who were (based on low MUAC/ oedema during mass screening) referred for treatment to a health facility and arrived for the treatment. It is useful for evaluating the access to and acceptance of the programme by the caregivers.

Determine the indicator's value by using the following methodology:

1) Define the reference period (for example, three months starting from 1^st April until 30^th June).

2) Ensure that your program’s monitoring system records two types of information:

     > number of children who were referred by a health worker/ volunteer for treatment at a health facility (based on low MUAC / oedema identified during mass screening)

     > number of children who arrived to a health facility due to being referred by a health worker/ volunteer (include those who were admitted as well as those who were not)

Usually, community health volunteers use a double slip referral where the caregivers of each referred child is being given a referral slip and the volunteer keeps the other slip. At the end of the month/screening, the supervisors compare the slips – how many were given to the caregivers and how many were given by the caregivers to the health facility workers.

3) To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of children who arrived by the number of children who were referred. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data by a health facility (catchment area) and gender.