understanding knots in mothers’ social ties with child health: reflections from indian sundarbans
TRANSCRIPT
Understanding knots in mothers’ social ties
with child health: reflections from Indian
Sundarbans
Upasona Ghosh, Rittika Brahmachari, Shibaji Bose
HSR Cape Town, 3rd October 2014
Guiding logic behind the research
Mother’s social ties are instrumental in
resource mobilization for child health and
health care seeking
Exposure to natural calamities increases
mothers’ vulnerability and dependence upon
their social ties
Scenario worsen in case of women headed
households.
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The Sundarbans……Geographical
barriers
Frequent
climatic shocks
Sundarbans’ Health System
Challenges of Accessibility, Affordability
Acceptability and Parallel Health Market
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Accessibility Affordability
Acceptability
Parallel health
Market
To identify:
• Key community and household level
players impacting child health
seeking behavior
• Gap within the mothers’ network
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Objectives
Conceptual Framework
Mothers’ Social Network
Supportive Network Leveraging Network
Practical
Emotional
Material Cognitive
*Adapted from Adams et al., 2009
Methodology: Qualitative Social Network
Analysis
How people
perceive the network
What is the
explicit content and
meaning of ties
Tool: Participatory
Network Mapping
Study Design
Settings: Two villages of Indian Sundarbans
Respondents: Mothers having at least one 0-6years of
children with -
a) seasonal migrant husband
b) Non-migrant husband
o Sample: 20 mothers (10 from each category)
o Data analysis: Open Access Software Gephi
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Mother’s supportive network with relatives and
neighbors: Both supportive and detrimental
Mother’s cognitive network: complete dependency on
community level players greatly influence seeking
quality care
Linkages with health institutions: fading away with
increasing geographical distance
Near absence of linkage with grass root level
organizations
Conclusions:
Mothers’ with migrant husbands have more dependency on
their supportive network for material and practical
resources for child care seeking than non-migrant
counterpart
Decision making for child care seeking is completely depend
upon household level player for mothers with non-migrant
husband and community level players for mothers with
migrant husband
Gap persist with in the network between both group of
mothers and grass root level health and non-health
organizations
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Priority issues to be addressed:
1. Mothers with migrant husband should come
under alternative income generation
schemes on a priority basis
2. Household level decision making players
should be incorporated in awareness
generation and Behavioral Change Campaign
3. Initiative should be taken to strengthen
linkage between mothers and the
community based organizations
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THANK YOU
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