Women's Groups to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomes: Different Evidence Paradigms Toward Impact at Scale

Glob Health Sci Pract. 2015 Sep 15;3(3):323-6. doi: 10.9745/GHSP-D-15-00251. Print 2015 Sep.

Abstract

The Care Group model, with relatively intensive international NGO implementation at moderate scale, appears successful in a wide variety of settings, as assessed by high-quality evaluation with rich program learning. Another women’s group approach—Participatory Women’s Groups—has also been implemented across various settings but at smaller scale and assessed using rigorous RCT methodology under controlled—but less naturalistic—conditions with generally, although not uniformly, positive results. Neither approach, as implemented to date, is directly applicable to large-scale integration into current public programs. Our challenge is to distill the elements of success across these approaches that empower women with knowledge, motivation, and increased self-efficacy—and to apply them in real-world programs at scale.

Publication types

  • Editorial
  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Child Health Services / statistics & numerical data*
  • Child Mortality*
  • Community Health Services / methods*
  • Community Health Services / statistics & numerical data*
  • Community Health Workers / statistics & numerical data*
  • Developing Countries / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pregnancy
  • Volunteers / statistics & numerical data*