Empowerment and Engagement Of Community In Strengthening Child Health Among Tribal Population

Agency: Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi
Project Team: Dr. R. Sarala (PI), Dr. Usha Manjunath (Co-PI)
Location: Karnataka & Tamilnadu

The project aimed to empower and engage various stakeholders through capacity building/ skill development such as Mothers of under-five children and Adolescents, Traditional Tribal Healthcare Practitioners, Medical Practitioner and VHSNCs members on issues related to Child health for sustaining positive health-seeking behavior in the community. Especially, adolescent were the key change agent by creating awareness and supporting the mothers of under-five children. The study focused on particularly vulnerable group viz., Irulas from Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu & Jenu Kuruba from Mysore District of Karnataka. Using mixed methods, the study measured change from baseline, in direct/indirect impact measures, including rates of Child Health specific awareness/attitudes, practices, and socio-cultural dynamics of the uptake or not thereof of the above intervention.

The Functioning of Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs)- A Comparative Study Across the Regions in Karnataka

Agency: Karnataka Evaluation Authority (KEA)
Project Team: Dr. Manjunatha. R, Dr. Usha Manjunath, Dr. Gyan Chand Kashyap, Dr. Tara M.S and Ms. Ramya. T. Karur
Location: Bangalore, Dharwad, Raichur, Kodagu, Chitradurga, Chikkamagalur, Gadag & Koppal

To address the challenges of malnutrition and treat SAM, the Govt. has set up Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres (NRC) and there are 896 NRCs functional in 25 States/Union Territories under the National Health Mission. NRC is a special unit located in a health facility and dedicated to the initial management and nutrition rehabilitation of children with SAM. In general, they are preferably located at District hospitals/Medical College Hospitals and have 10-20 beds. There are 32 NRCs (3 in Bangalore Urban and one each in all Districts except Bangalore Rural) and 27 Modified NRC (MNRC) at First Referral Unit/Taluka level hospitals in Karnataka. SAM children admitted in these centers are provided medical and nutritional therapeutic care as per SAM management guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO)and Indian Academy of Paediatrics.

This study focussed on study of the functioning of NRCs in different regions of Karnataka.

The evaluation design included secondary data review and analysis, quantitative and qualitative methodology. This evaluation project was conducted over a period of 06 months. The design was planned with a Structure-Process-Output/Outcome framework to guide systematic thinking, planning, and execution of the evaluation project. The design allowed for on-going validation of methods, tools, sample size, data quality, analysis framework, and report by Advisors/Subject experts in Nutrition and Public Health.

Assessment of Clinical Services at Surya Clinics in Bihar, Jharkhand And Uttar Pradesh

Project Team: Dr. Allen P Ugargol, Dr. Usha Manjunath, Dr. Manjunatha R, Dr. Chethana. H.S, and Mr. Gururaj Ajagol

Agency: DKT International

Location: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand

Janani has pioneered contraceptive social marketing and clinical family planning services in north-eastern India. Janani operates clinics in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh under the brand name of Surya Family Planning Clinics. This Surya Clinic network includes 22 clinics in these states, specialize in the provision of clinical family planning services, including the contraceptive injection, IUDs, male and female sterilization, medical termination of pregnancy, and other services. Quality of care and patient satisfaction is a top priority for Surya Clinics.

This study focussed on assessment of quality services of all the Surya clinics in three states. The study was conducted for a period of 4 months. The Quality Assessment of Clinical Services focussed on the supply side of family planning programs at each of the Surya Clinics and essentially answered the following objectives:

• To assess service utilization, preparedness of the facility service functioning, the human resource availability and skills and competencies
• To provide guidelines to develop/modify SOPs for quality improvement and to provide specific inputs for staff training for up skilling of service delivery.

A Study on Impact of Mid-Day Meal Program During Summer Vacations on Health and Nutritional Status of School Children Under Akshaya Patra Foundation MDM Program

Project Team: Dr. Manjunatha R, Dr. Usha Manjunath, Ms. Ramya T Karur, Ms. Aishwarya K Urala.
Agency: Akshaya Patra
Location: Hubballi, Ballari, Lucknow, Ajmer & Vrindavan

Akshaya Patra is the world largest (not-for-profit run) Mid-Day Meal Programme serving wholesome food every school day to over 1.76 million children from 15,024 schools across 12 states in India. Akshaya Patra has been concerting all its efforts towards providing fresh and nutritious meals to children on every single school day. During summer vacations, most of the schools supported by the MDM scheme of Government and Akshaya Patra Foundation do not provide food for school children. A very few of the locations where the Government declares as drought-hit areas, based on the priority of the situation, Akshaya Patra Foundation supplies mid-day meals to school children during summer vacations. This evaluation study focussed on impact assessment of the health and nutritional status of children who receive mid-day meals during summer vacations in selected places of the Country. This study with Controlled Before and After Design was conducted in 05 locations of the Country, namely Hubballi, Ballari, Lucknow, Ajmer, and Mathura.

Impact Evaluation of Brighter Minds Program

Agency: Centre for Integrative Health and Well Being
Project Team: Dr. Manjunatha.R
Location: Bangalore, Gangtok & Mehaboob Nagar

Learnings and impressions through which we train our brains at a young age will have a greater impact on us for the rest of our lives. With regard to this, the Brighter Minds Program is a cognitive training program for children aiming to improve the child capabilities in fields of focus, observation, memory, empathy, etc. IIHMR Bangalore worked about establishing evidence to this domain explaining the usefulness of such approaches for future generations. This project was conducted for 7 months used the biopsychosocial model to examine the impact of the Brighter Minds Program and included the intervention strategies to get the results engaging children and adolescents; consequently, giving an evaluation of these cognitive and emotional skills and their enhancement.