de Hoop et al. (2020) outline the implications of COVID-19 on women’s groups in India, Nigeria and Uganda and how the groups may help mitigate the effects of the pandemic for their communities. Groups were found to be affected by social distancing and the economic repercussions of the lockdowns. However, they can strengthen their member’s resilience to shocks and serve as crucial partners in community response.
Read MoreWalia et al. (2020) measured whether delivering health messages through SHGs in Bihar impacted antenatal care (ANC) behaviors. They surveyed 1,204 SHG members: 597 were from SHGs that received maternal and child health messaging in at least one weekly group meeting per month and 607 were from SHGs that were not exposed to the health intervention. They found that sharing health messages in microfinance-based SHGs is associated with significant increase in ANC practice.
Read MoreHazra et al. (2020)’s quasi experimental study in Uttar Pradesh, India assessed the effects of health behavior change interventions on maternal and newborn health (MNH) practices when delivered through women’s SHGs. The study found that providing the interventions through SHGs not only helped improve maternal and newborn practices, but also reduced disparities between most- and least marginalized populations for such behaviors.
Read MoreSaggurti et al. (2019) assessed the effect of a newborn care intervention through SHGs on improving new-born healthcare practices in rural Bihar, India. The quasi experimental study deemed that sharing messages on appropriate new-born practices through SHGs did in fact improve new-born care practices, evident within one year of the intervention.
Read MoreIn an evidence review that studied 46 high quality evaluations of interventions delivered through SHGs in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, Gugerty et al. (2019) found that though the impacts of SHG-based interventions were generally positive, the evidence base was limited and did not generally test whether alternative delivery mechanisms might be more effective.
Read MoreRuducha et al. (2018) explored whether social and advice networks affect the likelihood of immediate breastfeeding for recently delivered women, sampling 185 women from 36 villages in Uttar Pradesh, India. They found that women living in villages with an SHG had consistently higher numbers of relationship ties, health advice ties and higher density of health advice networks than women living in non-SHG areas. These ties then increased access to health messaging and strengthened the bond between local health providers and beneficiaries.
Read MoreIn a quasi-experimental study in India, Saggurti et al. (2018) sampled 1,182 groups (810 SHG groups and 372 control groups) to determine whether an eight-session behavior-change health intervention effected healthy maternal and newborn practices (MNCH). They found that structured participatory communication on MNCH with women’s groups improved positive health practices.
Read MoreSince marginalized groups are not easily reached through frontline health workers in Uttar Pradesh, India, Mozumdar et al. (2018) examined SHGs as a vehicle to improve knowledge of home based maternal and newborn care (HBMNC). Findings showed that SHGs can increase HBMNC knowledge among women as there were significant net-increases in women’s knowledge for most of the topics. The most significant determinant of the increase of knowledge was the women's education level.
Read MoreIn a meta-analysis spanning eight countries in South Asia, Kumar et al. (2018) looked at how women’s groups improve nutrition outcomes for women and children. They found that women’s groups have potential for improving maternal and child nutrition outcomes. It is not enough to just form the women’s groups without layering in contextually appropriate behavior change communication to improve health and nutrition awareness and knowledge. There were a number of null findings among the literature reviewed and the authors attributed that to a combination of program and implementation limitations.
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