HAIN conducts training and educational activities throughout the country, particularly on reproductive and sexual health, and in pharmaceuticals. These activities usually involve intensive workshops emphasizing both biomedical and psychosocial aspects of health care and utilizing interactive methods. We have conducted workshops for a wide range of participants including health professionals, health science students, women’s groups, men who have sex with men, sex workers, and media practitioners. HAIN has produced widely circulated teaching materials on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and rational drug use.

HAIN collaborates with different organizations, both at the national and international level, to expand its reach, maximize resources, and strengthen networking for a more organized effort in advocacy.

Training workshops on family planning, gender and sexuality among Community-Based Health Programs (CBHPs) workers
This workshop presents a gender and sexuality perspective on family planning, emphasizing the need to address important social and cultural aspects relating to family planning decisions. Generally, the aim is to develop strong linkages with various community health networks to initiate national population and RH agenda to increase in access to FP and RH services and slow down population growth. The training-workshop emphasizes family planning as one of the primary health needs at the community level. The training introduces CBHPs to the concepts of sexual and reproductive health to contextualize family planning in the broader RH and development issues. Integrating RH components to CBHPs will lead to a more holistic approach in addressing problems pertaining to child and women’s health, and also strengthen men’s involvement to RH issues.

SMART Chart Approach to Strategic Communications Workshop
The Strategic communication workshop aims to build RH organizations’ capacity to plan for and use strategic communications to advance their program goals. Through the use of the Smart Chart, the workshop trained the participants to use a systematic and effective communications approach in reproductive health advocacy.

HAIN is offering this interactive training workshop as part of our ongoing commitment to promote effective education and advocacy on population and reproductive health issues in the Philippines. Over the two-day workshop, participants learn how to use the “Smart Chart” to enrich their communications approach.

This workshop adopts the Smart Chart Approach which was originally developed by the Spitfire Strategies in the US and can be used in any advocacy issues.

HAIN has published its own version of the Smart-Chart manual entitled “Breaking Through the Noise: An Introduction to the Spitfire Smart Chart II.” This manual is an adaptation of the Spitfire Smart Chart as embodied in the training workshops conducted by HAIN. The manual cites communication experiences and examples that are specific to Philippine context.

Defending our Faith: Religion, Gender and Sexuality
In the Philippines, the Roman Catholic Church pose as a major block in population and reproductive health work, particularly in developing policies in support to these causes. This workshop aims to give the participants some tools for discernment to make informed decisions about gender and sexuality-related issues, including family planning, abortion, and homosexuality. The workshop also serves as venue for RH advocates to be able to reconcile their personal faith with their work.

Discussions revolve around various religious teachings:
1. The prohibition of artificial contraception;
2. Prohibition of condoms for the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections;
3. The judgmental attitudes toward abortion;
4. Propagation of norms of passivity and subservience for women;
5. Discrimination against homosexuals; and
6. Opposition to sex education.

At the end of the workshop, participants were expected to:
1. Understand that religions are not monolithic, that there are varying views and positions among officials, clergy and laity.
2. Understand the social and historical circumstances that shape official Catholic Church policies on gender and sexuality.
3. Understand how Catholic dogma shapes powerful ideologies around gender and sexuality, and how these affect laws and other policies in the secular sphere.
4. Understand how scriptures are used, sometimes oppressively and sometimes in a liberating way, to justify certain views about gender and sexuality.
5. Understand aspects of moral theology and ethics in the way they relate to gender and sexuality.
6. Apply knowledge acquired from the workshop to personal and professional concerns.
7. Stimulate interest for further work in the area of religion and sexuality.

Communicating for Advocacy (CFA) Project: Strengthening Capacity for Health and Development Advocacy in Asia
The goal of the project is to develop the capacity of community groups to influence policy and practice in South and Southeast Asia. It aims to develop abilities for information exchange and skills transfer by health and development agencies. This project involves four partner organizations; namely, HAIN, Healthlink Worldwide-UK, Cambodia Health Education Media Service (CHEMS-Cambodia) and Social Assistance and Rehabilitation of the Physically Vulnerable (SARPV-Bangladesh).

This training–workshop aimed to:
1. Identify a common definition and understanding of CFA:
2. Critically analyze the context of advocacy for people’s health;
3. Generate various empowerment programs, strategies and methods from the sharing of experiences and lessons towards the information of a communication framework for conscientizing, training and advocacy work;
4. Strengthen capabilities of the participants in conscientizing, organizing and advocating towards people’s health;
5. Develop a program plan for coordinated actions at the local and national levels among NGO and CBO participants.

Promoting Reproductive and Sexual Health (RSH) in the Philippine through Skills Training in Research and Information Management
Responding to current needs in RSH, the over-all goal of the project was to promote a more wholistic, critical and relevant approach to reproductive and sexual health in the Philippines.

Promoting reproductive and sexual health in its full socio-economic and cultural context
• Providing skills training in areas of research and information technology, including its applications for RSH program planning, monitoring and evaluation
• Strengthening the infrastructure for continuing dissemination of accurate and timely information on RSH
• Expanding an existing network of Key partners that share common perspectives in RSH

A series of nine 21-day workshops were conducted by HAIN for this project. The first week of the workshop introduces participants to theory, enabling them to obtain a more wholistic view of gender and sexuality which can the guide their research. It also seeks to inculcate sensitivity to cultural differences and the need for caution in dealing with sensitive topics such as RSH. The second and third week train participants in quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (FGDs, ethnography, life stories and content analysis) research skills, including actual application through fieldwork

Sexual Reproductive Health Project
The Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) Project was done with the support of the Ford Foundation. It ran 1997 to 2000. The project’s aim was to build and strengthen sexual and reproductive health capacity among non-government organizations, Government organizations and the academe. Areas that were covered by the project were cities like Baguio, Davao, Tacloban, Legazpi and Palawan.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Project: Medical and Nursing Students in Metro Manila
This project, which began on September 1991, has the following objectives: (1) to gather qualitative and quantitative information on HIV/AIDS knowledge and relevant sexual attitudes and behavior among medical and nursing students; (2) to produce and test HIV/AIDS educational materials for medical and nursing students; (3) to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS among medical and nursing students through educational materials and small group workshops; (4) to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS educational materials and small group workshops on medical and nursing students; and (5) to sensitize medical and nursing students to the need to address the HIV/AIDS problem as a social issue.

The project was able to accomplish the following activities:
1. A KAPB (Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, Behavior) survey in six medical and six nursing schools, conducted between November and December 1991. The survey provided important baseline information on this segment of the young adult population. A report was published in the January 1992 issue of Health Alert.
2. Ten one-day workshops for 66 medical and 54 nursing students on biomedical and psychosocial aspects of HIV prevention and control.
3. The production of 200 information kits for the students and partner agencies.
4. The development of several research and evaluation instruments to measure the students’ knowledge levels, perceptions and attitudes, and sexual behavior

HIV Prevention Workshops for Health Science Students
This project was an extension of an earlier project (1991-1992) designed to provide HIV prevention education to health science students. While the earlier project covered only medical and nursing students, this project expanded workshop coverage to include medical, nursing, dental, midwifery, and medical technology students in Metro Manila. Support was also given for school-based projects.

HAIN was able to conduct 18 HIV workshops for 286 students and 25 faculty members from medical, nursing, dentistry, midwifery, and medical technology schools in Metro Manila. The workshops covered biomedical and psychosocial aspects of HIV/AIDS.

A KAPB survey of allied health students (dentistry, midwifery and medical technology), who were being reached for the first time, was conducted. The students also received information kits providing essential information on HIV/AIDS, including background reading materials for more detailed technical issues. At the same time, the project included support for six school-based projects, which allowed the students to launch information campaigns not only for their classmates but also for students from other units, including those taking non-health courses.

HIV/AIDS and STD Prevention Project in Health Science Schools
April 1995 to June 1997
This project was another extension of an earlier program to bridge the gaps in knowledge among health science faculty and students in Metro Manila and in several key cities all over the Philippines. This time, the workshops not only included discussions on biomedical, psychosocial and economic aspects of HIV/AIDS, but also STDs and other reproductive tract infections (RTIs).

With nursing and midwifery faculty, and medical, nursing and midwifery students as specific target groups, the project had the following objectives: (1) to determine the current level of HIV/STD/RTI awareness and knowledge; (2) to improve current levels of knowledge on HIV/STD/RTI; (3) to create sensitivity to the need to address HIV/STD-related discriminatory and counter-productive perceptions and attitudes; (4) to motivate risk reduction and behavioral change through comprehensive package of information about the psychological dimensions of HIV and STD; (5) to train core groups of health science faculty and students as educators for school and community-based HIV/STD prevention programs; and (6) to formulate and implement appropriate follow-through activities, including developing educational materials, to support workshop participants in their programs.

The project has two main components: one is the development of skills among nursing and midwifery faculty members, and the other is the development of skills among medical, nursing and midwifery students. The project was able to accomplish the following activities:

1. Two KAPB surveys, conducted from August to December 1995 in six medical, nursing and midwifery schools in Davao and Iloilo with a combined sample of 808 students. The survey was able to provide the project information to guide its implementation.
2. A total of 39 workshops for medical, nursing and midwifery students and faculty were conducted, reaching with a total of 932 participants and 11 observers.
3. Production of a book on HIV/AIDS, Understanding HIV/AIDS, which was distributed to all participants. A set of acetate transparencies summarizing key points about HIV/AIDS was also prepared and distributed to the different institutions that participated. And to give the human side of HIV/AIDS, a video was produced together with Pinoy Plus, the national organization of Filipinos living with HIV.
4. Financial support for 16 school projects was provided. Partner schools employed various strategies and methods of information dissemination to target communities in hard-to-reach areas. Target communities included far places in Benguet, Davao and Cotabato, and previously unreached groups such as the Air Force, city or town officials, and Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Government) members.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Project for Male Sex Workers
This project was made possible with financial assistance from the Academy for Educational Development, Inc., a prime contractor to the U.S. Agency for Educational Development, Inc. for the AIDSCOM Project.

This project had the following objectives:
• To develop a program to increase knowledge levels on HIV/AIDS among male sex workers.
• To develop a program to encourage HIV risk reduction measures among male sex workers within the context of their existing value system and socio-cultural environment
• To help male sex workers to build the foundation for social support systems as part of the campaign to motivate and to sustain behavior change toward HIV risk reduction
The project covered only Metro Manila. Copies of the results of the study are available upon request from the HAIN Resource Center.

HIV/AIDS Workshop for Media Practitioners
The project was a collaboration between AusAID and HAIN. It aimed to provide basic knowledge and to promote sensitive and responsible media reporting on HIV/AIDS.

The project covered key cities all over the country. Participants of these workshops included media practitioners from TV, radio and print, as well as participants from government agencies and NGOs who are involved in media work.

HIV/AIDS Project among Hotel Staff
HAIN conducted two series of trainings on HIV education—one in partnership with UNAIDS in 1997 and the other in partnership with the Department of Health in 1998. Both projects, done in Metro Manila, aimed to provide basic knowledge on HIV and AIDS. Participants were mainly hotel administrators and staff.

Family Planning Project
From 1997 to 1999, HAIN conducted a series of training workshops on operations research and family planning in different parts of the Philippines. The workshops consisted of two rounds—the first introducing participants to the basics of family planning, the second consisting of training in operations research. This project was made possible with the assistance of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) which supported the training workshops and the production of two manuals: Choices: A Guide to Family Planning and Operations Research for Family Planning: A Simplified Guide.

National Training Workshop on Rational Drug Use
With the support of the Philippine Drug Action Network, HAIN conducted a workshop on Rational Drug Use last November 7-10, 1987 (check year). It was a first attempt to conduct a workshop on a highly technical subject for staff members involved in primary health care and community-based health programs. Its aim was to raise awareness on rational use of drugs to provide rational therapy within the context of an alternative health care system—a system that that different groups are trying to build.

The workshop provided a venue for linking community-based programs with institution-based research. It was also apparent from the workshops that there is still a need to fill the gap between what clinicians and researchers are doing and what is going on in the communities.

Two volumes of compiled lectures, appropriately named Guide to Rational Drug Use, were produced as a result of this training project. Copies are available from the HAIN Resource Center.

Resource Center Trainings
The Resource Center also provides skills-building training workshops. These are mainly for partner organizations that cater to the technical support services of the resource center. A more detailed description of these trainings are seen at the resource center page.