Reaching Communities for Child Health and Nutrition: A Proposed Implementation Framework for HH/C IMCI

Published by BASICS II in January 2001, this 10-page publication aims to determine the framework for the Household and Community (HH/C) component of IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness). According to BASICS II, HH/C IMCI was officially launched as an essential component of the IMCI strategy at the First IMCI Global Review and Coordination Meeting in September 1997. "Participants recognized that improving the quality of care at health facilities would not by itself be effective in realizing significant reductions in childhood mortality and morbidity because numerous caretakers do not seek care at facilities."

From the Overview
"The HH/C IMCI implementation framework distinguishes HH/C IMCI (Household and Community component of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness) programs from a wider set of community-based programs implemented under a broader definition of Comprehensive Primary Health Care. Each of the elementsaddresses critical community locales for child caring, illness prevention, illness recognition, home care, appropriate care seeking, and treatmentcompliance practices.

• Element 1 focuses on health facilities and outreach clinics, especially in the public sector;
• Element 2 focuses on private and informal sectors, including volunteers;
• Element 3 focuses on household and individual practices.

The multi-sectoral platform, including partnerships with other key ministries (e.g., Nutrition, Agriculture, Water and Sanitation, Local Government) and other key district/community projects and activities (e.g., income generation,civil society organizations), facilitates inclusion to promote adoption of key family practices. It acknowledges the social, political, environmental,and economic foundations upon which families and communities operate. Multipleactors and sectors can help accelerate implementation of HH/C IMCI. Their efforts can help to address factors that facilitate or hinder adoptionof new practices and behaviors that are promoted by HH/C IMCI, connect broaderdevelopment efforts to the key family practices, and promote the active role of local governments and associations in health. This platform is critical for sustainability of HH/C IMCI efforts.

Examples of connections that can be reinforced through the platform include:

• Improved water and sanitation linked to the promotion of handwashing.
• Income generation activities linked to the promotion of bednets.
• Income generation for men linked to men's involvement in reproductive and child health."

BASICS II is a global child survival project funded by the Office of Population, Health and Nutrition of the Bureau for Global Programs, Field Support, and Research of the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID).

Click here to download this report in PDF format [563 KB].

Click here to read about a related report, "Reaching Communities for Child Health and Nutrition: A Framework for Household and Community IMCI".