ORCID iD
Edward Frongillo: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8265-9815
Document Type
Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: To address gaps in coverage and quality of nutrition services, Alive & Thrive (A&T) strengthened the delivery of maternal nutrition interventions through government antenatal care (ANC) services in Uttar Pradesh, India. The impact evaluation of the A&T interventions compared intensive ANC (I-ANC) with standard ANC (S-ANC) areas and found modest impacts on micronutrient supplementation, dietary diversity, and weight-gain monitoring. OBJECTIVES: This study examined intervention-specific program impact pathways (PIPs) and identified reasons for limited impacts of the A&T maternal nutrition intervention package. METHODS: We used mixed methods: frontline worker (FLW) surveys (n = ∼500), counseling observations (n = 407), and qualitative in-depth interviews with FLWs, supervisors, and block-level staff (n = 59). We assessed 7 PIP domains: training and materials, knowledge, supportive supervision, supply chains, data use, service delivery, and counseling. RESULTS: Exposure to training improved in both I-ANC and S-ANC areas with more job aids used in I-ANC compared with S-ANC (90% compared with 70%), but gaps remained for training content and refresher trainings. FLWs' knowledge improvement was higher in I-ANC than S-ANC (22-36 percentage points), but knowledge of micronutrient supplement benefits and recommended foods was insufficient (90%), but supportive supervision was limited by staff vacancies and competing work priorities. Supplies of iron-folic acid and calcium supplements were low in both areas (30-50% stock-outs). Use of monitoring data during review meetings was higher in I-ANC than S-ANC (52% compared with 36%) but was constrained by time, understanding, and data quality. Service provision improved in both I-ANC and S-ANC areas, but counseling on supplement benefits and weight-gain monitoring was low (30-40%). CONCLUSIONS: Systems-strengthening efforts improved maternal nutrition interventions in ANC, but gaps remained. Taking an intervention-specific perspective to the PIP analysis in this package of services was critical to understand how common and specific barriers influenced overall program impact.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 152, Issue 2, 2022, pages 612-629.
Rights
© The Author(s) 2021
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APA Citation
Kachwaha, S., Nguyen, P., Tran, L., Avula, R., Young, M., & Ghosh, S. et al. (2021). Specificity Matters: Unpacking Impact Pathways of Individual Interventions within Bundled Packages Helps Interpret the Limited Impacts of a Maternal Nutrition Intervention in India. The Journal Of Nutrition, 152(2), 612-629. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxab390