Resource Library

The Community of Practice for Health and Microfinance (COPHAM) has developed a document cataloging integrated health and microfinance resources produced by RESULTS Educational Fund, Grameen Foundation, and Freedom from Hunger India Trust into a comprehensive resource library.

Contents of the Resource Library

Education modules

Health education features facilitated conversations that raise participants’ awareness of a topic, encourage them to talk about it, and equip them with the information they need to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. The content of the modules is simple and designed to generate discussion even among the quietest of participants. Through the discussions, participants gain important information and skills relevant to their lives—information and skills that they are encouraged to use and share at home and community. In the process, participants also get to value their own ideas. These modules encourage participants in a non-threatening way to talk, take action, solve problems, and bond around common solutions.

RESULTS Educational Fund and Freedom from Hunger India Trust offer technical assistance to COPHAM members to help them design appropriate programs, implement projects, monitor and evaluate initiatives, plus other needs. This technical assistance is available for a fee, and joint fundraising to cover personnel and material costs incurred by both parties is encouraged.

Technical Guides

Lessons learned from Freedom from Hunger's Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP) initiative are available in a series of technical guides designed to enable other MFIs to successfully add health education, health financing mechanisms, health provider linkages, and/or other health protection services. More information about Freedom from Hunger, the MAHP initiative, and associated products and guides is available at www.ffhtechnical.org.

Research Reports

Freedom from Hunger and RESULTS Educational Fund have produced two landscaping reports on the state of the practice for integrated health and microfinance in India. Additionally, Grameen Foundation has documented a number of projects and produced a stellar series of research reports. Go to Research Reports for a complete list of research papers, publications, and policy/perspective papers.

Database Tools

Between 2013 and 2015, Freedom from Hunger and RESULTS Educational Fund collaborated with four microfinance institutions in India, the Philippines, and Peru to test a set of simple health outcome performance indicators. Known as the Health Outcome Performance Indicators (HOPI), they were developed to help assess changes in client well-being over time.

Videos

Freedom from Hunger has produced several videos of its work with partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The visual publications range from brief snippets of a couple of minutes duration to videos of more than 10 minutes in length. Freedom from Hunger videos can be downloaded for free from YouTube.

All the education modules, technical guides, reports, database tools, and videos listed in the Resource Library are available free of charge to members of COPHAM. The official Resource Library (a PDF document) is restricted to COPHAM members only. Learn how to become a member.

Acknowledgements

Many people were involved in the compilation of the “Resources on Health: A Catalogue of Microfinance and Health Promotion (MAHP) Resources Developed by Freedom from Hunger and Results Educational Fund.” In particular, we would like to acknowledge the primary author, Dr. D.S.K. Rao, who was ably supported by Sarah Elborai and Sabina Rogers of RESULTS Educational Fund. Thanks are also due to Kristin Hunter for editing this report.

We would also like to thank the Grameen Foundation and Freedom from Hunger India Trust, particularly Cassie Chandler, Dr. Soumitra Dutta and Aloke Chakraborty, for their valuable inputs.