994- India- Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT)

Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is the most cost-effective proven intervention to protect small and sick newborns. The key features of KMC are early, continuous and prolonged skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the baby, and exclusive breastfeeding. Through our implementation research, we were able to improve KMC coverage and quality across an entire district of 1.6 million people.

KHPT has received funding to scale up KMC in Mumbai and Kolkata for a duration of 3 years. The proposed project aims to increase effective KMC among LBW babies (<2500g), i.e., 8 or more hours of KMC and exclusive breastfeeding upon discharge from health facility. Public healthcare facilities predominantly catering to vulnerable populations will be identified for the intervention in Mumbai and Kolkata cities.

We have planned to adopt the strategy of building institutional capacity, model demonstration, advocacy for scale-up with relevant authorities, and technical support for the scale-up. The capacity building will include on–site mentoring support, supportive supervision visits, Continued Medical Education, Continued Nursing Education, provision of job aids such as KMC case sheets for the staff nurses, and microplanning and BCC tools for the ASHA. The practices will be institutionalized at the facility to ensure their continued practice. We will advocate with similar facilities and demonstrate the model with a focus on sharing learning and experiences among the facilities. The project will work with the Departments of Health and Family Welfare and provide technical support to develop and adopt similar strategies during scale-up. The support will include providing master trainings to resource persons, incorporating the requisite budget and scale-up plan in the Project Implementation Plans (PIP) of the states, as well as developing monitoring mechanisms.

Interpret data gathered through the project to understand the association of social determinants on providing effective KMC.

Develop a questionnaire to understand the mental status of women who have delivered a low-birth-weight infant. Collect the data with support from field staff and analyse the data.

In an office in Bangalore with committed Indian health implementors

Has strong quant skills, and is interested in the association of social determinants in providing effective KMC.

Name: Svea Closser, Department of International Health, sclosser@jhu.edu

I would describe my communication and mentorship styles as... 

I encourage independence in my mentees and am ready to be available when they have questions. My collaborators in India are wonderful and there is a huge amount for a student to learn from them.

A complementary student would have a working style and mentorship expectations that are..

The student will be ready to support the work of KHPT and to learn from the great practitioners there.

50,000 INR or 600 USD

We do not have additional funding available.