Operations Research Mini Course

University of Washington Center for AIDS Research
Scientific Program on Health Services and Strategies Research

Operations research (OR) has been used to demonstrate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of service delivery strategies in a variety of health programs worldwide. By integrating research methodologies into program activities, operations research is an important tool to help project personnel develop and test new service delivery approaches, improve the effectiveness of their programs, and inform local, national, and international policy.

The aim of The Operations Research Mini-Course is to improve program managers’ and researchers’ understanding of the theory and methodology of operations research, particularly for its use in HIV/STD programs in developing countries.

The course was offered in the summer of 2006 and 2007. Please select the link below to view the course presentations from each year.

Course Presentations: July 28, 2006

Course Presentations: July 27, 2007

Suggested references

• Designing HIV/AIDS Intervention Studies: An Operations Research Handbook. Andrew A. Fisher and James R. Foreit. The Population Council, New York, 2002. Available at: http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/horizons/orhivaidshndbk.pdf
• An Approach to Rapid Scale-up: Using HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care as an Example. World Health Organization, Geneva, 2004. Available at: http://www.who.int/entity/hiv/pub/prev_care/en/rapidscale_up.pdf
• The Breakthrough Series: IHI’s Collaborative Model for Achieving Breakthrough Improvement. Institute for Health Care Improvement. Cambridge, MA, 2003. Available at http://www.ihi.org/NR/rdonlyres/BCA88D8F-35EE-4251-BB93-E2252619A06D/0/BreakthroughSeriesWhitePaper2003.pdf
• Health Research: Essential Link to Equity in Development. Commission on Health Research for Development. Oxford University Press, New York, 1990.
• Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, Consortium for Strategic HIV Operations Research (CSHOR): SIMCLIN- An HIV Service Delivery Resource Planning Tool Technical Overview.
  Available at: http://www.cshor.org/SIMCLINTechnicalOverview.doc