Community-based management of acute malnutrition: Implementation quality, and staff and user satisfaction with services.

BACKGROUND

Malnutrition is a problem that affects many children and therefore is the focus of multiple interventions worldwide. One intervention is community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM).

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed CMAM implementation quality in the Builsa North District of Ghana, and the satisfaction among both users and CMAM staff.

DESIGN

The study used a convergent mixed-method design involving in-depth interviews with CMAM staff and users, document reviews, and observations of the CMAM implementation. The data were collected across eight health care facilities in eight sub-districts. The data were qualitatively and thematically analysed in Nvivo software.

RESULTS

Several factors were found to adversely affect the quality of CMAM implementation. Significant factors included inadequate training of CMAM workers; religious belief systems; and a lack of implementation materials, such as ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), CMAM registration forms/cards, and computers. These factors adversely affected programme quality, thus resulting in dissatisfaction among CMAM users and staff.

CONCLUSION

This study established that the CMAM programme in the Builsa North District of Ghana is hindered by a lack of primary resources and logistics necessary for successful programme implementation. Most health facilities in the district lack such resources and are not delivering the intended results.