Table 1.

Characteristics of Service Provision Assessment (SPA) and Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) programmes

Characteristics	SPA	SARA
Survey design and sampling	Census or sample of health facilities at national level; sampling for some surveys allows sub-national estimates	Same as SPA
	Facility sample drawn from a Master Facility List of all formal sector public and private facilities in the country, generally stratified by facility type and managing authority	Same as SPA
	Sample of health service providers selected from those present in the facility on the day of the assessment	n/a
	For observation of ANC, FP and sick children care, patients are systematically selected based on the number of clients present at service site on the day of the visit	n/a
Survey questionnaires	Facility inventory for general and specific service availability and readiness	Same as SPA
	Health worker interview	n/a
	Direct observation of care	n/a
	Patient (ANC, FP, sick child caregiver) exit interviews	n/a
Interviewer training* (weeks)	~4	~1–2
Field team composition	Team leader, interviewers, driver	Same as SPA
Technical assistance	Centralised support provided by DHS Program	Decentralised support provided on request by partners including WHO HQ and regional offices, academic institutions, NGOs
Data access	Free public access at www.measuredhs.com	Metadata archive hosted by WHO with country contact information for microdata at http://apps.who.int/healthinfo/systems/datacatalog/index.php/catalog
Survey cost	$$–$$$	$–$$

*Includes field practice.

ANC, antenatal care; DHS, Demographic and Health Survey; FP, family planning; NGO, non-governmental organisation; n/a, not applicable.