The Heshima project developed several study instruments to measure disrespect and abuse throughout the study’s formative, baseline, and endline stages. The quasi-experimental implementation research design applied a mixed methods approach to understanding the meaning and factors that drive disrespect and abuse in maternity settings in Kenya. These tools allowed the project to measure the prevalence of disrespect and abuse in this setting, as well as the changes affected by the project.
This toolkit is intended to support researchers, evaluators, monitoring systems, and other practitioners interested in measuring and conducting implementation research around respectful maternity care. Data collection tools and measures should be adapted to socio-cultural context through rigorous qualitative research.