Health services

Severe acute malnutrition in children aged under 5 years can be successfully managed in a non-emergency routine community healthcare setting in Ghana. This study investigated the performance of community-based management of severe acute malnutrition (CMAM) within routine healthcare services in Ghana. This was a retrospective cohort study of n = 488 children (6-59 months) who had received CMAM. Data […]

Assessing Program Coverage of Two Approaches to Distributing a Complementary Feeding Supplement to Infants and Young Children in Ghana The work reported here assesses the coverage achieved by two sales-based approaches to distributing a complementary food supplement (KOKO Plusâ„¢) to infants and young children in Ghana. Delivery Model 1 was conducted in the Northern Region […]

Implementation of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding Saves Lives The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), developed in 1991 by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund to improve maternity care practices and breastfeeding rates, has been implemented globally in more than 152 countries. The core tenets of the BFHI are the Ten […]

Health Extension Workers’ Knowledge and Knowledge-Sharing Effectiveness of Optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding Are Associated With Mothers’ Knowledge and Child Stunting in Rural Ethiopia. BACKGROUND: Little is known about how the knowledge and the knowledge-sharing effectiveness (KSE) of health extension workers (HEWs) affect maternal knowledge of optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and […]

Challenges in Implementing the Integrated Community-Based Outpatient Therapeutic Program for Severely Malnourished Children in Rural Southern Ethiopia. Currently, treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition is managed in the integrated Community based Outpatient Therapeutic Program (C-OTP) using ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). The aim of this study was to determine challenges in implementing the critical steps in […]

Severe and Moderate Acute Malnutrition Can Be Successfully Managed with an Integrated Protocol in Sierra Leone. BACKGROUND: Global acute malnutrition (GAM) is the sum of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The use of different foods and protocols for MAM and SAM treatment can be cumbersome in emergency settings. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to […]

Perspectives and reflections on the practice of behaviour change communication for infant and young child feeding. Behaviour change communication (BCC) is a critical component of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) interventions. In this study we asked BCC practitioners working in low- and middle-income countries to participate in an examination of BCC practice. We focus […]

Application of the Health Belief Model to Teach Complementary Feeding Messages in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia many women do not practice appropriate complementary feeding (CF). The Health Belief Model (HBM) asserts that change in behavior is determined after consideration of severity, benefit, and barriers to change. This study examined the effectiveness of 3 months of HBM-based […]

Stakeholders’ perceptions of integrated community case management by community health workers: a post-intervention qualitative study. BACKGROUND: Integrated community case management (iCCM) involves delivery of simple medicines to children with pneumonia, diarrhea and/or malaria by community health workers (CHWs). Between 2010 and 2012, an iCCM intervention trial was implemented by Healthy Child Uganda. This study used qualitative […]

The challenges of adherence to infant feeding choices in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV infections in South East Nigeria. BACKGROUND: Global and national efforts in the 21st century are directed toward the elimination of new pediatric HIV infections through evidence-based infant feeding interventions for the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission, with patient preference, motivation, and adherence […]