Versus Anaemia
Solution Summary
Vs. anaemia is a service that empowers rural women to combat anaemia by bringing about awareness and changes in their daily lifestyle. It consists of a community driven initiative to empower women to battle anaemia through knowledge sharing, and a set of solutions in the form of a kit that aims to instil awareness of their diet and supplement intake, and inculcate practices that can help them cope during and post pregnancy.
Need for Intervention
Women who are pregnant are at a higher risk for developing anaemia due to the excess amount of blood the body produces to help provide nutrients for the growth of the baby. The challenge lies in the rural segment of India where myths, cultural norms and negligence act as a barrier in taking the necessary precautions.
Project Process & Collaboration
This project involved qualitative research, understanding the cultural context of rural India followed by scoping the service and designing various components of the kit along with creating prototypes to test for the same.
Team - Aditi Soni & Saumya Singhal
Understanding Maternal Care
Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common nutritional disorder in the world, affecting mostly women and children. This condition is especially highly prevalent in the rural regions of India. Anaemia during pregnancy is especially a concern because it is associated with low birth weight, premature birth, maternal mortality, and anaemic babies.
55% of women & 70% of children in India suffer from Anaemia and it is considered an indirect or direct cause of 40% of maternal deaths.
We conducted interviews with women working in public schools along with the mothers of children who go there. As a part of our in-depth research, we shadowed them to understand eating habits and behaviour towards wellbeing, especially in the context of semi-rural setting in India.
After speaking to rural health professionals and nursing home staff, we found out the three key factors to coping with Anaemia. To our surprise we realised how the government also works towards the same and has sanctioned the distribution of iron pills amongst the rural pregnant population.
Barriers to Self Care During Pregnancy
Women have misconceptions about the amount of food to be eaten during pregnancy. “If I eat too much, it might put pressure on the baby.”
They are are resistant to change and the solutions need to blend into their routine lifestyles.
Each of the women had different recipes they made of the same ingredients when told about iron-rich foods, a testament to the multi-ethnic culture of India.
Iron supplements are provided free of cost at the public health centres but women often forget to consume the tablets everyday as they don’t see its importance.
Opportunity
How might we inform rural women on good practices to combat anaemia, stimulate behaviour change and then sustain those changes from within the system?
Intervention
Accelerating the fight against anaemia by creating empowerment through changes within the government system and at an individual and behavioural level.
Proposed Solution
I.
II.
A toolkit that includes products to help women at their homes during and post pregnancy.
Empowering women from within the community by leveraging existing government aid.
Part I
Empowering Women to Battle Anaemia from Within the Community
What : Knowledge Sharing
Iron-rich foods are many, and a lot of Indian recipes use these ingredients. India is a land of multi-cultures and multi-religions, each with their own specific style of cooking. The geography of India as a country too is varied, making each crop unique to its place. It is almost impossible to homogenize recipes and cuisines in India. This service leverages the multi-culturality of India, enabling knowledge sharing and learning within the community itself.
How: Classes with Frontline Health Workers
A village level three day event where the resident women of the village come together to demonstrate recipes to each other in order to expand their horizons in terms of adopting an iron-rich diet.
Organized, curated and facilitated by the Frontline Health Workers - who currently conduct ‘Village Health Day’ once every month, where they bring healthcare services to the women in the villages.
Where: Village Level
Conducted in the Anganwadi Centre in every village.
When: Once in 3-6 Months
Conducted as an extension to the ‘Village Health Day’ that happens in the Anganwadi Centre every month.
Part II
A Toolkit that Helps Women Cope with Anaemia During & Post Pregnancy.
What: A Self-Care Anaemia Kit
The kit has a set of simple solutions that blends into their life and inculcates practices that would keep anaemia at bay. It addresses low anaemia awareness, low iron-rich food consumption and improper iron supplement consumption.
How: The Kit Comprises Of
Plate
Pamphlet* on three stages of use of plate
Pack of 30 tablets
Pack of 30 bindis
Pamphlet* on use of iron supplements + Bindi packaging
Booklet on supplement intake information
Food guide
Shopping bag
Pamphlet* on bag usage
*The pamphlets are written in English, and can be translated into any local dialect.
Who: Frontline Health Workers
This kit (bag) would be provided by government and private sectors at all levels of facilities that provide Antenatal care services, and at all levels that pregnant women come in contact with the health system. It could be given to the beneficiaries by the Frontline Health Workers during the ‘Village Health Day’.
A. Eating for Two - A Pregnancy Plate
Derived from the womb, this plate is a simple reminder for the mother to increase her intake of iron rich food during pregnancy, for herself and for the baby.
B. One Tablet for One Bindi, Every Morning!
Iron supplements packaging that comes with bindis, urging them to take a tablet every time they put a bindi. Hence acting as a reminder in their daily ritual, an integral part of their lives.
C. Eating Right - A Guidebook
A booklet to be hung at home, acting as a constant visual reminder about the kinds of iron rich food to be consumed. It is colour coded in descending order of iron content.
D. Packaging for the Kit - A Nudge
The packaging is a reusable vegetable bag. The red pocket is aimed at reminding and encouraging mothers to buy iron rich food whenever they go grocery shopping.
