Recorded presentation

Thomas P. Davis, MPH, Food for the Hungry, International, 440 Mainsail Road, Salisbury, NC 28146, 704-638-6394, Tom.Davis@fh.org, Adugna Kebede, MD, MPH, Food for the Hungry, Mozambique, Caixa Postal 2006, Pioneiros, Beira, Mozambique, and Melanie M. Morrow, MPH, Child Survival Specialist, World Relief, 7 East Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21202.

Food for the Hungry/Mozambique’s Title II health program has outpaced all other Title II PVOs in Mozambique, and most nutrition projects in the world, in terms of nutritional impact and speed of change in results-level indicators. FH’s health and nutrition interventions are implemented via Care Groups (CG), a multiplier model. With Care Groups, a “Leader Mother” (LM) is chosen from each group of ten households. Each group of ten LMs meets together biweekly in a Care Group. Each paid Health Promoter meets with ten or more groups (1-2 daily), educating the LMs on health topics. LMs discuss the health lesson, report on childhood/maternal illnesses, and discuss problem cases. LMs then practice their health promotion, supervised and coached by the Promoter. During the two weeks between meetings, each LM does health promotion through home visits to each of the ten women/mothers in her charge. From 1998 to 2001, FH/M decreased the proportion of children 6-23 months who had moderate/severe stunting by 40% using Care Groups (from 50.4% to 30.3%, p<0.05, n=2,337). The proportion of children who were severely stunted was almost cut in half, from 25% at baseline to 13% at final (p<0.05, n=2,337). Concomitant, dramatic changes in mothers’ nutritional and other health practices were also seen, such as improvements in exclusive breastfeeding (33% increase), consumption of vitamin A foods (59% increase), and DTP3 immunization (51% increase). Other studies on this model as applied by World Relief have found significant reductions in the U5MR and evidence of high sustainability of results.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the Care Group model.
• Describe the results seen in Mozambique using the Care Group model.

Keywords: Developing Countries, Nutrition

Related Web page: www.globalhealth.org/reports/report.php3?id=28

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation