Community Health Worker-led Participatory Learning and Action

To strengthen the uptake of effective neonatal care practices, such as thermal care, skin-to-skin contact and care-seeking for sick newborns, some countries have adopted the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) model.

In the PLA model, trained facilitators convene community groups of women who are pregnant or of reproductive age to identify maternal and newborn health challenges, and develop and implement localized strategies to improve health practices.

FHI 360 and its partners Ekjut and University College London (UCL) will work with the governments of Mozambique and Nigeria to replicate a Community Health Workers (CHW)-led version of the PLA model that has previously been tested and scaled in India.

In a DIV-funded RCT, the partners will assess the impact of the locally adapted intervention on the neonatal mortality rate and adoption of highimpact practices, and assess the programs feasibility and cost-effectiveness. T