TITLE:
A Qualitative Assessment of the Effectiveness of the “Incentive Package” Piloted in Shahjahanpur, Bogra under “Alive and Thrive” Program
AUTHORS:
Umme Salma Mukta, Syed Masud Ahmed, Umme Sayka, Md. Raisul Haque
KEYWORDS:
Incentive Package, Effectiveness, Bangladesh, IYCF
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.1 No.7,
October
14,
2014
ABSTRACT: Bangladesh is one of the countries with a high rate of infant malnutrition and the major cause is inappropriate breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. To improve the situation, both GO/NGO organizations are working intensively on the issue. In pursuance of this, AED and BRAC became partners in the Alive and Thrive project (A&T) for improving infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices through motivation and counseling by BRAC’s volunteer community health workers as frontline workers during 2009-2013. The study aimed to assess the “incentive package” implemented in the study area through the frontline health workers of BRAC. A qualitative research design used in-depth interviews, informal discussions, narratives and focus group discussions to gather relevant data. Findings reveal that in spite of heavy work load and unstable market situation from price hike, SSs were not too much demoralized and continued to work because of the incentive package. All the performance indicators of the SS showed improvement. The implication of this for program is discussed.