Research in Bihar indicated that frontline health workers (FLWs) needed support and more effective training to help them become better motivated and respected, and more able to persuade families to adopt healthy practices.
Given the limited reach of mass media in Bihar and the challenges associated with executing mass media plans in the state, increased emphasis was placed on interpersonal communication, in particular on the importance of frontline health workers (FLWs) as the critical interface with women of reproductive age. Attention was given to training FLWs in communication skills and in developing tools to enable them to carry out their work more effectively.
As well as developing tools to improve FLW communication, the project also devised strategies to maximise the overall amount of communication between FLWs and their clients, by harnessing pre-existing community platforms such as the Village Health, Sanitation, and Nutrition Day (VHSND).To support this approach the SDP project developed “disruptive” communication aids to be used by FLWs