Results Most interventions combined microfinance with health education , which demonstrated positive effects on health knowledge and behaviours , though not health status .
Interventions combining multiple health components in a given study demonstrated positive effects , though it was unclear which component was driving the effect .
Discussion Integrated microfinance and health education programs were effective , though longer intervention periods are necessary to measure more complex pathways to health status .
The effect of microfinance combined with other health components was less clear .
Background Solutions delivered within firm sectoral boundaries are inadequate in achieving income security and better health for poor population s.  Integrated microfinance and health interventions leverage networks of women to promote financial inclusion , build livelihoods , and safeguard against high cost illnesses .
Our underst and ing of the effect of integrated interventions has been limited by variability in intervention , outcome , design , and method ological rigour .
This systematic review synthesis es the literature through 2015 to underst and the effect of  integrated microfinance and health programs .
Changes in health indicators related to health promotion and microcredit programs in the Dominican Republic.
OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of health promotion programs and microcredit programs on three communities in the Dominican Republic . One community had only the health promotion program , one community had only the microcredit program , and one community had both a health promotion program and a microcredit program .  This pilot project examined the hypothesis that the largest changes in 11 health indicators that were studied would be in the community with both a health promotion program and a microcredit program , that there would be intermediate changes in the community with only a health promotion program , and that the smallest changes would be in the community with only a microcredit program . METHODS The health promotion programs used  community volunteers  to address two major concerns : ( 1 ) the prevalent causes of mortality among children under 5 years of age and ( 2 ) women 's health ( specifically breast and cervical cancer screening ) . The microcredit program made small loans to individuals to start or exp and small businesses . Outcome measures were based on comparisons for 11 health indicators from baseline community surveys ( 27 households surveyed in each of the three communities , done in December 2000 and January 2001 ) and from follow-up surveys ( also 27 households surveyed in each of the three communities , in June and July 2002 , after the health promotion program had been operating for about 13 months ) . Households were r and omly chosen during both the baseline and follow-up surveys , without regard to their involvement in the microcredit or health promotion programs . RESULTS The health indicators improved in all three communities . However , the degree of change was different among the communities ( P < 0.001 ) . The community with parallel microcredit and health promotion programs had the largest changes for 10 of the 11 health indicators . CONCLUSIONS Multisector development is known to be important on a macroeconomic scale . The results of this pilot project support the view that multisector development is also important on a microeconomic level , given that the parallel microcredit and health promotion programs result ed in greater change in the measured health indicators than either program alone . As far as we authors know , this is the first published study to quantify changes in health indicators related to parallel health promotion and microcredit programs as compared to control communities with only a health promotion program or a microcredit program
Results Most interventions combined microfinance with health education , which demonstrated positive effects on health knowledge and behaviours , though not health status .
Interventions combining multiple health components in a given study demonstrated positive effects , though it was unclear which component was driving the effect .
Discussion Integrated microfinance and health education programs were effective , though longer intervention periods are necessary to measure more complex pathways to health status .
The effect of microfinance combined with other health components was less clear .
Background Solutions delivered within firm sectoral boundaries are inadequate in achieving income security and better health for poor population s.  Integrated microfinance and health interventions leverage networks of women to promote financial inclusion , build livelihoods , and safeguard against high cost illnesses .
Our underst and ing of the effect of integrated interventions has been limited by variability in intervention , outcome , design , and method ological rigour .
This systematic review synthesis es the literature through 2015 to underst and the effect of  integrated microfinance and health programs .