Research Paper

Making Effective Use Of Cell Phone For Infant And Young Child Feeding Promotion

Abstract :

Introduction: The use of cell phone has been increasing rapidly in Bangladesh. Each two people having at least one cell phone. A&T project delivered about 1.9 million stickers including the PKs contact cell phone number to the eligible participants of the catchment area. Thus, the programme expected to achieve more responses from the beneficiaries on IYCF-related problems and to deliver services as and when necessary to improve the practices. However, the response from the target people, especially from mothers or care givers was still to be at satisfactory level. Objective: To identify the factors and barriers associated to this low response rate and provide feedback to the programme. Methods: The study was conducted in five upazilas of Manikganj and Meherpur districts. The PKs and mothers/caregivers enrolled in the A&T intervention and had received the incentives on cell phone or involved in the communication process through cell phone were selected for interview. Findings: The study revealed that the common barrier of cell phone use was the load-shading of electricity that restricted charging the phone. Some mothers informed that they could not operate the cell phone properly to communicate with PKs. All the mothers told that though their husbands got it recharged but they thought it was unnecessary to call the PKs and discuss child feeding issues. They used their husbands or other family members cell phone although they had limited access to such cell phones. Unless the mothers called, they rather felt to solve the problem by face to face counseling. Family members especially the elderly and husbands did not take it easily. They thought that they gossiped over cell phone. Lack of awareness was another issue, for instance, even if mothers were not practicing IYCF properly, interns of childrens age, they perceive that they were right. Conclusion: Cell phone remuneration may be increased for the PKs. The awareness of mothers and their family members need to be strengthened.

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