Health in the Hands of Women: Test of a Community Health Worker Teaching Method "Sharing Histories"
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Infant Nutrition Disorders
- Sponsor
- Future Generations Graduate School
- Enrollment
- 600
- Primary Endpoint
- Change in rate of stunting in children under two years of age (birth to 23.9 months of age)
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 9 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of an innovative methodology for training Community Health Workers that will improve their effectiveness in educating mothers to adopt best practice health behaviors in the home.
Detailed Description
Objective: Training of community health workers (CHW) is a growing priority to close the gap between health services and mothers/families in resource poor communities. To address research needs on how to improve effectiveness of CHW training, the investigators tested an innovative CHW teaching methodology called "Sharing Histories" hypothesizing that this would empower and enable CHW to better teach mothers to improve health knowledge and behaviors that contribute to improved child growth. Method: The study was a cluster-randomized controlled trial: 22 health facility jurisdictions were matched and randomly assigned as experimental or control. Health personnel Tutors and female CHW were trained using either the "Sharing Histories" methodology (experimental) or a standard but still participatory teaching method (control). Training content, materials, and other interventions were held constant between study groups. Impact on maternal knowledge and practices, and child growth and morbidity were measured in representative household surveys at baseline, midterm, and final evaluation, with 600 mothers interviewed - 300 in each study group - at each point in time.
Investigators
Laura C. Altobelli
Professor - Principal Investigator
Future Generations Graduate School
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Adult interviewed must be mother or guardian of a child under two years of age.
- •Child from birth (0.1 months-old) to under two years of age (23.9 months-old).
Exclusion Criteria
- •If a mother selected for interview had more than one child under age two years, only the younger child was considered for the interview and anthropometry measurements.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Change in rate of stunting in children under two years of age (birth to 23.9 months of age)
Time Frame: Chidren born up to 24 months prior to the baseline survey in 2010. Children born up to 24 months prior to the final survey in 2014
Stunting is defined as low height-for-age less than -2 z-scores from the median on the World Health Organization growth standard, 2006.