How do People in Rural India Perceive Improved Stoves and Clean Fuel? Evidence from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand

This ethnography explores the controversial plans and practices of the Maitreya Project, as they worked to build the “world's tallest statue” as a multi-million dollar “gift” to India. This effort entailed a plan to forcibly acquire hundreds of acres of occupied land for the statue park in the Kushinagar area of Uttar Pradesh. The Buddhist statue planners ran into obstacle after obstacle, including a full-scale grassroots resistance movement of Indian farmers working to “Save the Land.” In telling the “life story” of the proposed statue, the book sheds light on the aspirations, values and practices of both the Buddhists who worked to construct the statue, as well as the Indian farmer-activists who tirelessly protested against it. Since the majority of the supporters of the Maitreya Project statue are “non-heritage” practitioners to Tibetan Buddhism, the book narrates the spectacular collision of cultural values between small agriculturalists in rural India and transnational Buddhists from around the world. The book endeavors to show the cultural logics at work on both sides of the controversy. Thus, this ethnography of a future statue of the Maitreya Buddha—himself the “future Buddha”—is a story about divergent, competing visions of Kushinagar’s potential futures.

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Comparison of Pulmonary Function in Females Using Clean Fuel and Biomass Fuel in Allahabad District, Uttar Pradesh, India

10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2019.199.1_meetingabstracts.a2501 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

T. Mahmood ◽

A.D. Shukla ◽

A.K. Verma ◽

S. Satpathy

Keyword(s):

Pulmonary Function ◽

Uttar Pradesh ◽

Biomass Fuel ◽

Clean Fuel

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Shifting social norms to reduce open defecation in rural India

Behavioural Public Policy ◽

10.1017/bpp.2020.46 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-25

Author(s):

VARUN GAURI ◽

TASMIA RAHMAN ◽

IMAN K. SEN

Keyword(s):

Social Norms ◽

Large Scale ◽

Low Cost ◽

Uttar Pradesh ◽

Rural India ◽

Cost Information ◽

Open Defecation ◽

Information Campaigns ◽

Development Interventions ◽

Latrine Use

Abstract Toilet ownership in India has grown in recent years, but open defecation can persist even when rural households own latrines. There are at least two pathways through which social norms inhibit the use of toilets in rural India: (1) beliefs/expectations that others do not use toilets or latrines or find open defecation unacceptable; and (2) beliefs about ritual notions of purity that dissociate latrines from cleanliness. A survey in Uttar Pradesh, India, finds a positive correlation between latrine use and social norms at baseline. To confront these, an information campaign was piloted to test the effectiveness of rebranding latrine use and promoting positive social norms. The intervention targeted mental models by rebranding latrine use and associating it with cleanliness, and it made information about growing latrine use among latrine owners more salient. Following the intervention, open defecation practices went down across all treatment households, with the average latrine use score in treatment villages increasing by up to 11% relative to baseline. Large improvements were also observed in pro-latrine beliefs. This suggests that low-cost information campaigns can effectively improve pro-latrine beliefs and practices, as well as shift perceptions of why many people still find open defecation acceptable. Measuring social norms as described can help diagnose barriers to reducing open defecation, contribute to the quality of large-scale surveys and make development interventions more sustainable.

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The Knowledge of Danger Signs of Obstetric Complications among Women in Rural India: Evaluating an Integrated Microfinance and Health Literacy Program

10.21203/rs.3.rs-50221/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Danish Ahmad ◽

Itismita Mohanty ◽

Avishek Hazra ◽

Theo Niyonsenga

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Maternal Health ◽

Health System ◽

Uttar Pradesh ◽

Obstetric Complications ◽

Rural India ◽

Danger Signs ◽

Knowledge Of Danger Signs ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background: Maternal mortality can be prevented in low-income settings through early health care seeking during maternity complications. While health system reforms in India prioritised institutional deliveries, inadequate antenatal and postnatal services limit the knowledge of danger signs of obstetric complications to women, which delays the recognition of complications and seeking appropriate health care. Recently, a novel rapidly scalable community-based program combining maternal health literacy delivery through microfinance-based women-only self-help groups (SHG) was implemented in rural India. This study evaluates the impact of the integrated microfinance and health literacy (IMFHL) program on the knowledge of maternal danger signs in marginalised women from one of India’s most populated and poorer states - Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, the study evaluates the presence of a diffusion effect of the knowledge of maternal danger signs from SHG members receiving health literacy to non-members in program villages. Methods: Secondary data from the IMFHL program comprising 17,232 women from SHG and non-member households in rural Uttar Pradesh was included. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the program’s effects on the knowledge of maternal danger signs adjusting for a comprehensive range of confounders at the individual, household, and community level. Results: SHG member women receiving health literacy were 27 per cent more likely to know all danger signs as compared with SHG members only. Moreover, the results showed that the SHG network facilitates diffusion of knowledge of maternal danger signs from SHG members receiving health literacy to non-members in program villages. The study found that the magnitude of the program impact on outcome remained stable even after controlling for other confounding effects suggesting that the health message delivered through the program reaches all women uniformly irrespective of their socioeconomic and health system characteristics. Conclusions: The findings can guide community health programs and policy that seek to impact maternal health outcomes in low resource settings by demonstrating the differential impact of SHG alone and SHG plus health literacy on maternal danger sign knowledge.

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Issue and Challenges of Adopting Contraception Methods by Men and Women in Rural Uttar Pradesh

Regular issue - International Journal of Management and Humanities ◽

10.35940/ijmh.f0647.024620 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (6) ◽

pp. 155-159

Keyword(s):

The Knowledge of Danger Signs of Obstetric Complications Among Women in Rural India: Evaluating an Integrated Microfinance and Health Literacy Program

10.21203/rs.3.rs-50221/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Danish Ahmad ◽

Itismita Mohanty ◽

Avishek Hazra ◽

Theo Niyonsenga

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Maternal Health ◽

Health System ◽

Uttar Pradesh ◽

Obstetric Complications ◽

Rural India ◽

Danger Signs ◽

Knowledge Of Danger Signs ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background: Maternal mortality can be prevented in low-income settings through early health care seeking during maternity complications. While health system reforms prioritised institutional deliveries, inadequate antenatal and postnatal services limit the knowledge of danger signs of obstetric complications to women, which delays the recognition of complications and seeking appropriate health care. Recently, a novel rapidly scalable community-based program combining maternal health literacy delivery through microfinance-based women-only self-help groups (SHG) was implemented in rural India. This study evaluates the impact of the integrated microfinance and health literacy (IHLMF) program on the knowledge of maternal danger signs in marginalised women from one of India’s most populated and poorer states - Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, the study evaluates the presence of a diffusion effect of the knowledge of maternal danger signs from SHG members receiving health literacy to non-members in program villages.Methods: Secondary data from the IHLMF program comprising 17,232 women from SHG and non-member households in rural Uttar Pradesh was included. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the program’s effects on the knowledge of maternal danger signs adjusting for a comprehensive range of confounders at the individual, household, and community level.Results: SHG member women receiving health literacy were 27 per cent more likely to know all danger signs as compared with SHG members only. Moreover, the results showed that the SHG network facilitates diffusion of knowledge of maternal danger signs from SHG members receiving health literacy to non-members in program villages. The study found that the magnitude of the program impact on outcome remained stable even after controlling for other confounding effects suggesting that the health message delivered through the program reaches all women uniformly irrespective of their socioeconomic and health system characteristics.Conclusions: The findings can guide community health programs and policy that seek to impact maternal health outcomes in low resource settings by demonstrating the differential impact of SHG alone and SHG plus health literacy on maternal danger sign knowledge.

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Prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural population of India- a study from Western Uttar Pradesh

International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences ◽

10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20171227 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 1363 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

P. S. Singh ◽

Himanshu Sharma ◽

Khwaja S. Zafar ◽

Prafulla K. Singh ◽

Sudhir K. Yadav ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Rural Population ◽

Uttar Pradesh ◽

Capillary Blood ◽

Rural India ◽

Capillary Blood Glucose ◽

Age Group

Background: Diabetes is a major challenge for a resource-limited country like India. Majority of the patients are diagnosed late in the course of illness with presence of complications. There is limited data on diabetes from rural India. Present study is an attempt to provide data on diabetes in rural India. The overall objective of present study was to estimate the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural population above 25 years age in district Etawah and neighbouring areas of Uttar Pradesh, India.Methods: The study was planned to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in rural community by health camp and door to door approach. Fasting capillary blood glucose was first determined using a glucose meter (SD check code free, SD biosensor Inc. Korea). All the adults were given 75gm of glucose dissolved in 200ml water which was drunk over a period of up to 5 minutes and the 2-hour post load capillary blood glucose was estimated. Diabetic status was confirmed by taking blood samples for fasting and postprandial blood sugar levels in a fluoride vacutainer. Fasting plasma glucose ≥126mg/dl and or 2-hour postprandial glucose ≥200mg/dl were taken as the diagnostic criteria for diagnosis.Results: Prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the rural population was found to be 8.03%. Prevalence was higher in female population (9.91%) as compared to males (6.79%). 19.74 % of participants over 70 yrs of age were diabetics while diabetes was present only in 2.95% of participants in the age group of 25-39 year. The maximum number of diabetes were in the age group of 50-59 years. 10.04 % of participants were diagnosed to be Prediabetics. 35.77% of the diabetics were newly diagnosed.Conclusions:Present study shows there is high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in rural area of western Uttar Pradesh, India.

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Improving Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness Through an Integrated Microfinance and Health Literacy Program:Evidence From Rural India

10.21203/rs.3.rs-79341/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Danish Ahmad ◽

Itismita Mohanty ◽

Theo Niyonsenga

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Maternal Health ◽

Uttar Pradesh ◽

Wealth Quintile ◽

Literacy Intervention ◽

Rural India ◽

Birth Preparedness ◽

Diffusion Effect ◽

Complication Readiness ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background:Despite maternal mortality rate almost halving over the past two decades, approximately 295,000 deaths occurred annually in 2017 globally. They occur in high burden regions where most preventable deaths are precipitated by delays in maternal care provision. Recently, a novel rapidly scalable community-based program combining maternal health literacy delivery through microfinance-based women-only self-help groups (SHG) was implemented in rural India. We evaluated the impact of the IMFHL program on BPCR practice by women in one of India’s poorest states-Uttar Pradesh, adjusting for community, household and individual variables. We also investigated if there is a diffusion of knowledge of BPCR from SHG members receiving the health literacy intervention to non-members in program villages.Method: Using secondary survey data from the IMFHL project, we analysed data from 17,244 women across SHG and non-member households in Uttar Pradesh. We performed multivariable logistic regressions to estimate adjusted IMFHL program’s effects on maternal BPCR practice.Results: Membership in SHG alone is positively associated with BPCR practice with 17 percent higher odds compared to women in villages without the programs. Furthermore, the odds of practising complete BPCR increases by almost fifty percent when a maternal health literacy component is added to the SHGs. A diffusion effect was found for BPCR practice from SHG members to non-members only when an added health literacy component was integrated into the SHG model. The main effect of the IMFHL program on BPCR practice remained stable in the presence of confounders suggesting that the delivery of health messages is undiluted by other non-programmatic factors at the individual, household and community level. Among confounders, only the poorest households as captured by the wealth quintile were significantly negatively associated with BPCR practice.Conclusion: The public health literature promotes the adoption of BPCR practices to improve maternal health outcomes. This study shows that SHGs exert both a dissemination effect of planned health behaviour within members, as well as facilitate a diffusion effect of the natural transfer of BPCR from members to non-members when SHGs are enriched with a health literacy component

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