Understanding the Role of Gender Inequality and Food Insecurity on Maternal and Child Health

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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To pilot test a group intervention for newly married women and their households to improve nutrition, pregnancy and delivery knowledge, and intrahousehold communication

Detailed Description
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Aim: To test the feasibility of an empowerment and food insecurity intervention for newly married women and others in their households to improve maternal and child health outcomes. The investigators will pilot an intervention consisting of groups of newly married women, their husbands and mothers-in-law. Each household will be enrolled for 4 months in weekly sessions. Topics discussed will include behavioral messaging crafted specifically for newly married households (including husbands and in-laws) to address the perceptions of different family members about food consumption, gender inequality, and the relationship between women's nutrition, food consumption, maternal health, and birth outcomes. Behavioral messaging at the household level: Based on findings from preliminary studies, key barriers to newly married women receiving needed nutrition/food and potential mechanisms to address those barriers were identified, as well as informational messages that could be used to address specific barriers. Particular attention was paid to how household dynamics and decision-making relate to gender inequality and food insecurity. Thirty randomly selected newly married households will be recruited to participate in testing the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Acceptability will be assessed from women, husbands, and mothers-in-law through surveys at the end of 4 months with questions on relevance to their needs, information gained, and interest in participating further. Enrollment and retention at 4 months will also be used to measure acceptability. Preliminary changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors will be assessed through a comparison of pre and post survey data. The investigators will also conduct semi structured interviews with 15 participants and 5 stakeholders. If necessary, the intervention will then be refined.

Official Title
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Understanding the Role of Gender Inequality and Food Insecurity on Maternal and Child Health

Conditions
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Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Sumadhur Aarambha


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: the household has a newly married couple (married in the last 3 months) a living mother-in-law both the woman and man being over the age of 18 Exclusion Criteria: Under 18 not recently married

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Feasibility study in 30 groups, pre post, no control
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Main study<br>There is only 1 arm because this is a feasibility and acceptability pilot. | Behavioral: Sumadhur Aarambha<br>* Group intervention for newly married women, their husbands, and mothers-in-law with information mainly about nutrition, but also pre-pregnancy health, reproductive/pregnancy health and gender equality.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Attendance and Attrition of Participants | Proportion of meetings that respondents reported that they attend, combined with the attrition rate | 4 months | 
| Participant Satisfaction | Proportion of respondents who state that they were satisfied with the intervention, answering Very satisfied or satisfied to a 5 point scale from very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, neither dissatisfied or satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied. | 4 months |