Implementation fidelity of nutritional counselling, iron and folic acid supplementation guidelines and associated challe

  • PDF / 1,202,998 Bytes
  • 16 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
  • 115 Downloads / 226 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT


RESEARCH ARTICLE

Open Access

Implementation fidelity of nutritional counselling, iron and folic acid supplementation guidelines and associated challenges in rural Uasin Gishu County Kenya Roselyter Monchari Riang’a1* , Anne Kisaka Nangulu2,3 and Jacqueline E. W. Broerse4

Abstract Background: Implementation fidelity which is defined as the degree to which programmes are implemented as intended is one of the factors that affect programme outcome, thus requiring careful examination. This study aims to acquire insight into the degree to which nutritional counselling and Iron and Folic Acid supplementation (IFAs) policy guidelines during pregnancy have been implemented as intended and the challenges to implementation fidelity. Methods: Data were collected in rural Uasin Gishu County in the western part of Kenya through document analysis, questionnaires among intervention recipients (n = 188) and semi-structured interviews with programme implementers (n = 6). Data collection and analysis were guided by an implementation fidelity framework. We specifically evaluated adherence to intervention design (content, frequency, duration and coverage), exposure or dosage, quality of delivery and participant responsiveness. Results: Coverage of nutritional counselling and IFAs policy is widespread. However, partial provision was reported in all the intervention components. Only 10% accessed intervention within the first trimester as recommended by policy guidelines, only 28% reported receiving nutritional counselling, only 18 and 15% of the respondents received 90 or more iron and folic acid pills respectively during their entire pregnancy period, and 66% completed taking the IFAs pills that were issued to them. Late initial bookings to antenatal care, drug stock shortage, staff shortage and long queues, confusing dosage instructions, side effects of the pills and issuing of many pills at one go, were established to be the main challenges to effective implementation fidelity. Anticipated health consequences and emphasis by the health officer to comply with instructions were established to be motivations for adherence to nutritional counselling and IFAs guidelines. (Continued on next page)

* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Current address: Department of Sociology, Psychology and Anthropology, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creat