Assessment of Growth Monitoring and Promotion Programmes in Ghana

Community-Based Growth Promotion delivered by community volunteers is expected to enhance access to and use of child welfare services. The concept has been implemented in rural and urban-slum communities in Ghana since the beginning of the year 2000 but information on its impact vis-à-vis the traditional Growth Monitoring and Promotion programme instituted in the 1960s and delivered mainly by community health nurses is limited. This research compared the fairly new community-Based growth promotion to the age-long growth monitoring and promotion with respect to attendance of caregiver-child pairs and growth of the children enrolled. In addition, impact of the programme on caregivers' knowledge, attitudes and practices on infant and young child feeding was assessed. Finally, content of the counseling provided by the respective programme staff was evaluated against set standards.

Autorentext
Faith is a Lecturer at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana. Trainings in Nutrition (MPhil), Home Science (BSc) and Nursing (Diploma) have made her versatile in both curative and preventive health. Her PhD research at Heidelberg University, Germany, seeks to validate the diagnostic tools for gestational diabetes.