Research Reports

Check out these great resources on health integration in microfinance!

Latest Research

Published by RESULTS Educational Fund and Sa-Dhan | September 2018

Integrated Health and Microfinance in India, Volume III: Banking on Health

Authors: Sabina Rogers, DSK Rao, P Satish and Somen Saha

This report shows how integration between the robust, pro-poor microfinance sector and the health sector can drive progress on two of the factors most critical to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) in India: 1) ensuring the poorest and most vulnerable households are effectively reached, enrolled and actively use the coverage and 2) public, private or civil society actors delivering support services that fill the gaps in services and financing. READ NOW

Health Diaries

Published by Grameen Foundation | June 2018

Breakthroughs in Affordable Health Care

What ‘Health Diaries’ tell us about managing health care and costs among women in West Bengal and Jharkhand

This research brief presents results from a series of “Health Diaries” — or frequent surveyor-administered surveys — conducted with 45 women in West Bengal and Jharkhand, India and focuses on key findings related to treatment seeking behavior, access to services and insurance, how out-of-pocket costs are managed and who makes the decisions in the household regarding health care and how to pay for it. READ NOW

Breakthroughs for Healthy Birth

What “Health Diaries” tell us about financial and medical preparation for giving birth among women in West Bengal and Jharkhand

This research brief will present results from a series of “Health Diaries” — or frequent surveyor-administered surveys — conducted with 45 women in West Bengal and Jharkhand, India to uncover how low-income women prepare for and experience childbirth and its associated costs. READ NOW

Breakthroughs in women’s empowerment

Decision-making power of women in microfinance and financial self-help groups in Jharkhand and West Bengal

This research brief presents results from a series of “Health Diaries” — or frequent surveyor-administered surveys — conducted with 45 women in West Bengal and Jharkhand, India to uncover how low-income women prepare for, cover, and recover from health costs and focuses specifically on household decision-making behaviors and gender dynamics within the household. READ NOW

Research Briefs

Healthy Mothers Make Healthy Communities: Research Brief

Published by Grameen Foundation | June 2018

In 2017, the Maa aur Shishu Swasthya (Mother and Child Health) Program, implemented across West Bengal with a key financial service partner, Aikyatan Development Society (ADS), focused on improving knowledge and behaviors related to pregnancy and childbirth. This research brief outlines the results from a pre- and post-test assessment with women’s self-help groups to determine the effectiveness of Pictorial Learning Conversations in improving knowledge and behaviors related to pregnancy and childbirth. READ NOW

Industry Surveys

Published by Grameen Foundation and RESULTS Educational Fund

Integrated Health and Microfinance in India, Volume II

The Way Forward

Published in 2014

The report highlights the context of integration of health and microfinance in light of India’s journey towards universal health care by 2020, to document best practices in integration, and to highlight potential interventions that can be adopted by microfinance institutions (MFIs) as well as by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that serve self-help groups (SHGs).

Integrated Health and Microfinance in India, Volume II was published in 2014 and was written in partnership by the Microcredit Summit Campaign, Freedom from Hunger, the India Institute of Public Health–Gandhinagar. This report was made possible with support from Johnson & Johnson, SIDBI, and the ICCO Corporation. READ NOW

State of the Field of Integrated Health and Microfinance in India, 2012

Published: 2012

The Microcredit Summit Campaign, Freedom from Hunger, and the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar released a new report in June 2012 titled Integrated Health and Microfinance in India: Harnessing the Strengths of Two Sectors to Improve Health and Alleviate Poverty. The report demonstrates how microfinance can be further leveraged to provide a powerful tool to address one of India's persistent barriers to the economic advancement of the poor: ill health caused by lack of access to health services. READ NOW

State of the Field of Integrated Health and Microfinance in the Andes, 2012

Published: 2012

The Microcredit Summit Campaign, Freedom from Hunger, and the Center for Health Market Innovationsreleased a new report in January 2013 titled Integrated Health and Microfinance: Harnessing the Strengths of Two Sectors to Improve Health and Alleviate Poverty in the Andes -- State of the Field of Integrated Health and Microfinance in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, 2012.

This report synthesizes the primary learnings and conclusions shared within a community of practice for integrated health and microfinance in the Andean region. READ NOW

Freedom from Hunger Resource Library

Find Freedom from Hunger's research findings into their Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP) initiative. These materials document the impact of the health interventions on clients and on the MFIs, as well as a set of technical guides that they offer to be of use to others who seek to replicate or build on their efforts to show how microfinance and health protection can be integrated cost-effectively. Visit Freedom from Hunger's resource library today! Here are a few documents:

  • Leveraging the Strengths of Two Sectors to Achieve Widespread Change in Health and Poverty: A Business Case for Integrated Microfinance and Health Programs (download here)
  • Integrating Microfinance and Health Strategies: Examining the Evidence to Inform Policy and Practice (download here)
  • Costs and Benefits of Microfinance Institutions Offering Health Protection Services to Clients (download here)
  • Why Not Add Health to Microfinance? (download here)
  • Health financing: A new role for microfinance institutions? (download here)
  • Integration of Microfinance and Health Services on Bandhan Clients in India - Research Brief and Full Report (download here)