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BACKGROUNDgiven the opportunity to participate and to makerecommendations. The recommendationsincluded restructuring the teams to rationaliseclient case loads, restructuring the supervisoryand feedback systems and providing furtheron-the-job training and updates. Theseoutcomes were incorporated into the projectimplementation framework.In December 1998, a 2-week evaluationof the project was carried out by a WHOconsultant. The review concluded that homeand community care for PLHA in Cambodiawas essential and that the home care projectshould be strengthened in Phnom Penh andexpanded to selected provinces. It was alsorecommended that a more rigorous evaluationshould be conducted to analyse themechanisms of the model and to assessthe cost-effectiveness of the project.A review 12 of the project was conducted bythe Project Committee at the end of the pilotphase in Feb 1999. The review noted that themajority of the objectives had been met withinthe timeframe and concluded that patients,NGO and government partners, health staff andcommunity leaders all reported a high level ofsatisfaction with the teams' activities, includingtheir effect on community awareness of HIVtransmission and prevention.The review also concurred with recommendationsof previous reviews, on the need toconduct a comprehensive evaluation of thehome care programme in Cambodia. In particular,there was an identified need to evaluate theimpact, cost and key components to help makedecisions on expanding the programme nationally.The objectives and design of this evaluationare detailed in the following section.12 Joint Ministry of Health/NGO Pilot Project on Home and Community Care for People with HIV/AIDS, Cambodia, 1999, op.cit.pg 13