The full-scale war in Ukraine, which began in 2022, has undermined the health care system, including reversing some gains made in both vaccination and breastfeeding in the years leading up to it.
Childhood immunization rates have dropped significantly. Logistical challenges impede the distribution of vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy is on the rise – even among health care professionals.
Meanwhile, many displaced mothers lack access to safe water, proper nutrition, and lactation support, further heightening the risk of malnutrition and infectious diseases in infants.
To stem this tide, the Jointly to Health hotline, established in July 2022 through a partnership among UNICEF, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and the Ukrainian Catholic University, was created to answer questions and provide critical health care consultations on vaccination and infant feeding. Created in response to the ongoing war, the hotline ensures that parents and caregivers can receive evidence-based guidance despite disruptions in the health care system.
Three years in, UNICEF has contracted the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the hotline, examining its role in addressing service delivery gaps by promoting specific immunization and breastfeeding behaviors.
“The idea is that this presents a really easy, accessible way to reach people, a way for people to get unbiased information from trained professionals about vaccination and breastfeeding, especially during a conflict where physical health care services may no longer be accessible or even safe,” says Carmen Cronin, PhD, a CCP researcher.
The unique thing about the Jointly to Health hotline is that aside from answering incoming calls to provide solid information for free to all Ukrainians, call center workers also make outreach calls. Since January 2023, operators have been calling families who previously received cash or material support from UNICEF, as well as clients from selected health care facilities, to offer breastfeeding and vaccination counseling and identify any unmet needs.
This proactive approach is different from traditional hotlines, where operators typically just wait for incoming calls, Cronin says. Health hotlines like this one not only provide essential medical referrals but also empower individuals to navigate the complexities of the health care system during times of crisis.
So how well does the hotline work at improving health access and literacy for people living in a conflict zone?
That’s what Cronin and her colleagues hope to determine.
They’ll analyze the more than 500,000 consultations made by the hotline between its launch in 2022 and Sept. 2024 to learn about the content of the calls, the demographics of the callers and much more. They will conduct interviews with people involved in implementing and managing the hotline, facilitate focus groups with those who staffed and used the hotline, and administer surveys to users and non-users alike.
Among the answers Cronin hopes to discover revolve around the hotline’s effectiveness in getting people to vaccinate children and breastfeed, how the hotline could be integrated into the national health care system, unintended or unanticipated needs that arose during the war and whether the hotline is cost-effective and provides a good return on investment.
She expects some results to be available later this year.
