Project Info
- Year of Completion : 2018
- User Department : Department of Health and Family Welfare Telangana
Description
Background:
Acute Malnutrition continues to be a major public health issue and development challenge in India. By referring to the WHO standards in Stunting, Underweight and Wasting, in all the three categories, the severity of malnutrition is ranging between medium to very high (critical) in Telangana. As per the WHO classification, Stunting should be less than 20 percent, underweight less than 10 percent, Wasting to be less than 5 percent- State has 28 percent, 28.5 percent and 18 percent respectively.[1] According to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-IV), 61 per cent of the children aged six to 59 months in the State, are still anaemic.
The government of Telangana has set up Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) across the state with financial support from the Government of India to provide lifesaving care for vulnerable children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). Initiated in the year 2012, currently, 12 NRCs are functioning in 9 Districts of Telangana. This Rapid Assessment is intended to assess the status of functioning, understand the bottlenecks and identify best practices in NRCs and to provide insights to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Telangana on strengthening Facility based management of children with SAM.
Objectives of the study:
- Assess the functionality, budget utilization of NRCs
- Assess the bed occupancy, adequate weight gain at discharge strategies, services delivery mechanism
- Review beneficiary identification process
- Review communication strategy to take the scheme to the general populace
- Review existing implementation and monitoring mechanism in scheme implementation, existing gaps, if any and accordingly recommend a framework for effective implementation of the scheme
- Examine the impact of the scheme
- To study perceptions and experiences of beneficiaries’ mother/caretaker about the services provided at NRCs
Process:
Various methods were used to address research on each of the objectives of the study. These comprised of literature review, data analysis of key documents including NRC guidelines and manuals, etc. survey of beneficiaries and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, apart from primary data collection by visiting all the 12 NRCs.
Outputs:
Indicators pertaining to Admissions in NRCs, exit indicators, effectiveness and quality of care provided in NRCs, Monitoring and Review mechanisms, Records maintenance and budget spending during the study period for the NRC were analyzed.