icddr,b study on primary health service

Capacity building can result in brighter future

Engaging government primary health service delivery to implement early childhood development interventions promises a brighter future, says a recent study of icddr,b. The icddr,b’s Child Development Unit held a dissemination seminar at its Sasakawa Auditorium in Mohakhali, Dhaka to share major findings of a randomised controlled trial on generating evidence of a scalable early childhood development (ECD) model to integrate into existing health services in Bangladesh.   

The study showed capacity building of primary health service within the existing government system is possible and could result in a brighter future.

The unit has been worked for the last two decades on ECD and has already developed a ‘Comprehensive Early Stimulation Package’ to benefit development of underprivileged children, such as children with malnutrition, anaemia, and or poverty.  This will be scaled-up through the health system.  The study is a feasibility study titled “Scaling up of early childhood development intervention by integrating into health services in Bangladesh” to evaluate if the government health supervisors can successfully train and supervise front line clinic staff on ECD service delivery.  The study involved capacity building of 19 Health and Family Planning Inspectors in two upazilas of Mymensingh (Trishal and Bhaluka), who have subsequently trained 58 frontline health workers including Community Health Care Providers, Health Assistants and Family Welfare Assistants to provide ECD services to 576 children through responsive parenting training.   In a preliminary assessment, the study found that families showed significant improvement in the quality of home stimulation that is considered a proxy for child development and the effect size was 0.3 SD (standard deviation).   The study findings revealed by Dr Jena Derakhshani Hamadani, Emeritus Scientist of Maternal and Child Health Division, Dr Fahmida Tofail, Scientist of Nutrition and Clinical Services Division and Bidhan Krishna Sarker, Assistant Scientist of Maternal and Child Health Division.

ECD is fundamental for the health, well-being and life opportunities for every child, everywhere. However, poor ECD in low- and middle-income countries is a major concern. In these countries including Bangladesh, around 250 million children under 5 years of age are failing to reach their maximum developmental potential.    Multiple risk factors are at play - poverty, malnutrition and lack of a stimulating environment.  There are calls to universalise access to ECD interventions through integrating them into existing government services but little evidence on the medium- or long-term effects of such scalable models are available.

icddr,b study on primary health service

Capacity building can result in brighter future

Engaging government primary health service delivery to implement early childhood development interventions promises a brighter future, says a recent study of icddr,b. The icddr,bs Child Development Unit held a dissemination seminar at its Sasakawa Auditorium in Mohakhali, Dhaka to share major findings of a randomised controlled trial on generating evidence of a scalable early childhood development (ECD) model to integrate into existing health services in Bangladesh. The study showed capacity building of primary health service within the existing government system is possible and could result in a brighter future. The unit has been worked for the last two decades on ECD and has already developed a Comprehensive Early Stimulation Package to benefit development of underprivileged children, such as children with malnutrition, anaemia, and or poverty. This will be scaled-up through the health system. The study is a feasibility study titled Scaling up of early childhood development intervention by integrating into health services in Bangladesh to evaluate if the government health supervisors can successfully train and supervise front line clinic staff on ECD service delivery. The study involved capacity building of 19 Health and Family Planning Inspectors in two upazilas of Mymensingh (Trishal and Bhaluka), who have subsequently trained 58 frontline health workers including Community Health Care Providers, Health Assistants and Family Welfare Assistants to provide ECD services to 576 children through responsive parenting training. In a preliminary assessment, the study found that families showed significant improvement in the quality of home stimulation that is considered a proxy for child development and the effect size was 0.3 SD (standard deviation). The study findings revealed by Dr Jena Derakhshani Hamadani, Emeritus Scientist of Maternal and Child Health Division, Dr Fahmida Tofail, Scientist of Nutrition and Clinical Services Division and Bidhan Krishna Sarker, Assistant Scientist of Maternal and Child Health Division. ECD is fundamental for the health, well-being and life opportunities for every child, everywhere. However, poor ECD in low- and middle-income countries is a major concern. In these countries including Bangladesh, around 250 million children under 5 years of age are failing to reach their maximum developmental potential. Multiple risk factors are at play - poverty, malnutrition and lack of a stimulating environment. There are calls to universalise access to ECD interventions through integrating them into existing government services but little evidence on the medium- or long-term effects of such scalable models are available.