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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1389706
This article is part of the Research Topic Scaling-Up Equitable Nutritional Care for Girls and Women in South Asia View all 9 articles

Effectiveness of a technical support program with women's self-help groups in catalyzing Health and Nutrition behaviors in Bihar -a multicomponent analysis Authors

Provisionally accepted
Sudipta Mondal Sudipta Mondal 1*Indu Bisht Indu Bisht 1Santosh Akhauri Santosh Akhauri 1Indrajit Chaudhuri Indrajit Chaudhuri 1Narottam Pradhan Narottam Pradhan 1Sweta Kumari Sweta Kumari 2Shuchi Sree Akhouri Shuchi Sree Akhouri 2Rakesh Kumar Jha Rakesh Kumar Jha 1Manoj Kumar Singh Manoj Kumar Singh 2Suman Das Suman Das 2Apollo Purty Apollo Purty 3Arko Mukherjee Arko Mukherjee 4Tanmay Mahapatra Tanmay Mahapatra 2
  • 1 Other, New Delhi, India
  • 2 Bihar Technical Support Unit, Patna, Bihar, India
  • 3 Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, Bihar, India
  • 4 Independent researcher, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society launched the JEEViKA program in 2007 to improve livelihoods through the Self-Help Group (SHG) platform. Women's SHGs have shown members' health improvements by promoting awareness, practices and access to services. This study investigates whether Health & Nutrition (HN) interventions delivered by JEEViKA Technical Support Program (JTSP) via SHG platforms could improve maternal and newborn health and nutritional behaviors in rural Bihar. Methods Annual Household Survey and Married Women of Reproductive Age (MWRA) studies of Bihar Technical Support Unit were used to analyse the effectiveness of JTSP on HN behaviors for mother and their infants in Bihar during 2016-21. Descriptive analysis followed by multivariable (binary and multinomial) logistic regressions were conducted to determine the distribution of and associations between various individual/community and programmatic exposures and outcomes of interest.During 2016-2021, in Bihar, statewide increase (32% to 47%) in SHG membership across all population strata and expansion of HN layering of JTSP from 101 to 349 blocks corroborated with improvements in Maternal-Newborn-Child Health & Nutrition (MNCHN) indicators in JTSP blocks and SHG members. Substantial increase was observed in ≥3ANC visit (9% points), institutional delivery (10%), skin-to-skin-care (17%), dry cord-care (23%), early initiation of breastfeeding (19%) & complementary feeding (9%). Adjusting for sociodemographic factors and Front-Line Workers' (FLWs') advice/counselling, multivariable logistic regression revealed that SHG member in JTSP blocks delivering post-intervention (2021) were more likely (vs 2016) to practice: ≥3ANC visits (Adjusted Odds Ratio: aOR=1.48,p<0.0001), institutional delivery (aOR=1.71,p<0.0001), skin-to-skin care (aOR=3.16,p<0.0001) and dry cord-care (aOR=2.64,p<0.0001), early initiation of breastfeeding (aOR=1.61,p<0.0001), complementary feeding (aOR6-8 months=1.48,p<0.0001) and minimum dietary diversity (aOR6-8 months=1.24). Better mobility, decision making, economic independence and overall empowerment were also evident among SHG member MWRA as opposed to non-members after both phases.The results highlight successful HN integration in JEEViKA by JTSP, demonstrating its effectiveness in integrating with State Rural Livelihoods Mission community platforms. JTSP showcases collaboration within a government system and emphasizes systematic introduction and strengthening at multiple levels. This integration has enabled JEEViKA systems to self-sustain its own HN implementation processes, paving the way for cross-sectoral comprehensive delivery mechanisms for social development.

    Keywords: Self-Help Groups, JEEViKA Technical Support Program, Maternal health, Newborn care, Child nutrition, social development, Women empowerment

    Received: 22 Feb 2024; Accepted: 17 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mondal, Bisht, Akhauri, Chaudhuri, Pradhan, Kumari, Akhouri, Jha, Singh, Das, Purty, Mukherjee and Mahapatra. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sudipta Mondal, Other, New Delhi, India

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