Consultant - Study on Digital Health Platforms and Services for Young People, UNICEF Thailand Country Office, Bangkok, Job No

Consultant Medical & Health Programme & Policy

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfilling their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a better future

UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children in the East Asia and Pacific Region. This means the rights of every child living in this country, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:

• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and

• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them

  How can you make a difference?

UNICEF Thailand Country Office is seeking a qualified consultant to conduct a landscape analysis of Thailand’s current digital health services and platforms for adolescents and youth. The selected consultant is expected to have good knowledge of online health services for young people in Thailand and demonstrate excellent literature review skills to synthesize global data related to digital healthcare for young people. The selected consultant will engage with government agencies in Thailand, non-government health service providers, and UN agencies to collect and synthesize available data and information. Additionally, the consultant will engage with young people to obtain their perspectives on their lived experiences of the use of existing online platforms.

Work Assignment:

The main activities of this assignment include an analytical mapping of existing online platforms for young people’s health; collecting and synthesizing data from various relevant stakeholders including young people themselves; and desk review of a least 3 best practices and case studies of online health platforms for young people (including the most marginalized) implemented in other countries, to gather lessons learned that can be applied to Thailand. The final product is a comprehensive report containing strategic information to help UNICEF and partners better understand the young people’s health needs, their barriers to accessing online health platforms, and gaps in the existing services and platforms that need improvement by service providers. The assignment can be summarized into four phases, as follows.

Phase 1: Development of inception report

In this phase, the selected consultant will develop a detailed inception report, with inputs from UNICEF and a Steering Committee composed of UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNESCO and representatives of the Ministry of Public Health. Other stakeholders might be included by UNICEF. A kick-off meeting with UNICEF and the Steering Committee will be set up by the selected consultant to discuss the key elements of the landscape analysis, including (but not limited to): purpose, objectives and intended use of the study, scope and content of literature/desk review; methodological approach and rationale for choosing specific data collection methods and analysis (see phase 2), and ethical considerations, based on UNICEF’s PROCEDURE FOR ETHICAL STANDARDS IN RESEARCH, EVALUATION, DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS. The Inception Report will be key to have a mutual understanding of the scope and approach of the research.

Phase 2: In-depth research and analysis

For this phase, the research consultant is expected to use both a quantitative and qualitative approach. At a minimum, the research will draw on the following methods:

A. Comprehensive desk review of available documentation

The desk review will be conducted to collect and synthesize information related to:

• Desk review of global good practices in digital health platforms for adolescents and youth, looking at 3 countries as a minimum.

• Analysis of the available policies introduced by the Thai government to effectively carry out digital health services for young people.

• A thorough profiling of existing online health services and platforms; types of services and platforms, accessibility, youth-friendliness, inclusiveness, and issues of confidentiality. The consultant will look at platforms promoted by government, civil society organisation or the private sector. Available data on digital health platforms will be disaggregated by:

o Types of platforms.

o Average monthly number of users.

o Number of trained staff on the digital platforms working to respond to the needs of young people.

o Referral mechanisms.

o Sustainability.

o Risks and barriers to access.

o Gaps in the provision of services.

• Information on characteristic, demographics, health trends of those who access digital health platforms.

Available data on young people will be disaggregated by:

o Demographics: sex, age, location, socioeconomic status if available, student status, and health status if possible.

o Trends and preferences for digital platforms.

B. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KII)

The aim of the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) is not only to complement missing information from the desk review, but also identify the gaps in the digital health services and platforms for young people, and possible solutions to address these factors. Through the FGDs and KIIs, the consultant will gain first-hand perspectives of digital health platform developers and young-people users that reflect gaps, barriers, and opportunities of the digital health services and platforms. The FGDs will be conducted with youth who access/have accessed the digital health services to better understand whether the current platforms address their needs and explore their other unmet health needs. The KIIs with other key stakeholders (including NGOs, UN organisations, government partners) in Thailand will complement the desk review on the types of current digital platforms and services and capacities of those actors to address young people’s health needs through their digital interventions.

In the FGDs, special attention will be paid to the inclusion of marginalised and vulnerable groups such as girls, youth with disabilities, young key populations, teenage mothers, adolescents from ethnic minorities, young people with HIV/chronic conditions, LGBTQI youth, etc. The aim is to ensure their voices and unique experiences are reflected in the discussions. The initial list of participants of the FGDs will be proposed by the consultant, but it is expected that the consultant will work closely with UNICEF to finalise the list of participants for the FGDs and KIIs.

It is anticipated that there will be a minimum of 6 focus group discussions with a maximum of 8 participants in each FGD. The contracted research consultant will also conduct at least 20 interviews with key stakeholders, including youth. The full list of key informants will be proposed by the contractor and finalised together with the Steering Committee.

Phase 3: Preparation of draft report and validation of the findings

In this Phase, the research consultant will submit a draft report of maximum of 50 pages to the Steering Committee and prepare a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the key findings. The research consultant will also be responsible for organising an online workshop with the Steering Committee and other key stakeholders to present the preliminary results of research including recommendations, and to gather feedback from these stakeholders to be incorporated in the final version of the report.

Phase 4: Preparation of final report

Based on the feedback from the internal and external consultations and validation process through the validation workshop, a final report, will be prepared by the contracted research consultant according to the outline agreed in the Inception Report. The report will include a clear highlight of existing gaps in existing health platforms for young people and contain a set of actionable recommendations for targeted interventions to improve the platforms.

Work Schedule and Deliverables: Full time (21 days/month)

• Deliverable 1. A final inception report describing the complete methodology approach to conduct the work, including all data collection tools fully drafted. The Inception Report will be key in confirming a mutual understanding of what is to be assessed, including additional insights into executing the consultancy. At this stage, the contracted consultant will refine and verify assessment questions, confirm the scope of the assignment, and further improve on the methodology proposed in the ToR to strengthen its rigor.

The report will include, among other elements: i) assessment purpose and scope, confirmation of objectives of the assessment; ii) assessment questions; iii) methodology along with a description of data collection methods and data sources, iv) work plan, and deliverables timeline; v) annexes (i.e., draft data collection instruments, for example, questionnaires, with a data collection toolkit, matrix for evaluation questions data analysis framework).

The report will be in English with obtained ethical clearance if necessary.

Expected by 1st November 2022.

• Deliverable 2 Draft Assessment Report in English of ideally 50 pages but not more than 80 pages, plus executive summary and annexes that will be revised until approved by UNICEF.

Expected by 15 December 2022.

• Deliverable 3: Final report and A PowerPoint presentation with findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Both products will be in English

Expected by 10 February 2023.

Payment will be made upon successful submissions of the agreed deliverables.

End Products:

- Inception Report (1st November 2022)

- Draft Report (15 December 2022)

- Final Report (10 February 2023)

Duration of Contract: 10 October 2022 – 10 February 2023 (The consultancy will be working full-time - 21 days/month)

Official Travel: No official travel required.

Work Location:

- Home based.

- Consultant to use their laptop and other necessary infrastructure/equipment

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Mandatory

• Advanced university public health, public policy, social development, or other relevant fields.

• At least 8 years of experience in providing technical assistance on health-related issues, including digital health.

• Excellent understanding of qualitative and quantitative assessment methods.

• Experience of working UN agencies or major bilateral donor country programmes.

• Excellent English report writing skills and a track record of producing high quality reports in English.

Desirable

• Experience of undertaking research (focus group discussions or key informant interviews) with young people.

• Ability to read and write Thai is an asset. In case support on local language is required, the arrangement shall be made by the consultant.

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV, full contact information of minimum 3 references, availability, and proposed monthly professional fee in USD by 3 October 2022****.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People, and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org