MCHHB use promoted continuous care acquisition and care at home from pregnancy to early child-rearing stages in rural Java.

The remittances of internal migrants contribute in various ways to the wellbeing of their households of origin. This study examines the significance of selected socio-economic and demographic factors associated with remittance behaviour in Thailand as characterized by the propensity to remit and amount remitted. The extent to which remittances affect the living standard of households left behind is also appraised. The analyses suggest that in Thailand sending remittances is a practice rooted in altruism which enables outmigrants to retain personal contact with their households of origin for an extended time. Thus, it is widely exercised regardless of the economic needs of the household. At the same time, out-migration is an effective means for lowincome households to quickly overcome shortages of income. The sustenance of poor households might have been difficult without remittances. From a macro-perspective, remittances contribute to the equalization of the income distribution among households having out-migrants.

BackgroundThe provision of appropriate care along the continuum of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) service delivery is a challenge in developing countries. To improve this, in the 1990s, Indonesia introduced the maternal and child health (MCH) handbook, as an integrated form of parallel home-based records.ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify the roles of home-based records both before and after childbirth, especially in provinces where the MCH handbook (MCHHB) was extensively promoted, by examining their association with MNCH service uptake.DesignThis was a cross-sectional study using nationally representative data sets, the Indonesia Demographic and Health Surveys (IDHSs) from 1997, 2002–2003, and 2007. The IDHS identifies respondents’ ownership of home-based records before and after childbirth. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine associations between record ownership and service utilisation in national data and data from two provinces, West Sumatra and North Sulawesi, where ownership of pre- and post-natal records served as a proxy for MCHHB ownership.ResultsPre- and post-natal record ownership increased from 1997 to 2007. Provincial data from 2007 showed that handbook ownership was associated with having delivery assisted by trained personnel [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05–4.25], receiving maternal care (aOR: 3.92, 95% CI: 2.35–6.52), completing 12 doses of child immunisation for seven diseases (aOR: 4.86, 95% CI: 2.37–9.95), and having immunisation before and after childbirth (aOR: 5.40, 95% CI: 2.28–12.76), whereas national data showed that service utilisation was associated with ownership of both records compared with owning a single record or none.ConclusionOur results suggest that pre- and post-natal home-based record use may be effective for ensuring service utilisation. In addition, since the handbook is an efficient home-based record for use throughout children's life courses, it could be an effective tool for promoting the continuum of MNCH care in Indonesia.

One of the salient features of internal migration in Thailand is the increasing participation of women in population mobility. Drawn by growing economic opportunities in urban areas, more and more women are participating in migration streams. This paper examines, from a gender perspective, the interactions between migrants and their households of origin, in terms of the transfer of money and goods. The analysis of the National Migration Survey data suggests that, as the theory of New Economics of Labour Migration posits, migration might have functioned as a survival strategy of many Thai households. The flows of money and goods into migrantsending households are large and essential supplements for the livelihood of the households. Presumably conditioned by traditional gender roles in Thai culture, female migrants showed deeper commitment than male migrants in providing economic supports for their households left behind.

Home-based records have been used in both low- and high-income countries to improve maternal and child health. Traditionally, these were mostly stand-alone records that supported a single maternal and child health-related programme, such as the child vaccination card or growth chart. Recently, an increasing number of countries are using integrated home-based records to support all or part of maternal and child health-related programmes, as in the maternal and child health handbook. Policy-makers’ expectations of home-based records are often unrealistic and important functions of the records remain underused, leading to loss of confidence in the process, and to wasted resources and opportunities for care. We need to examine the gaps between the functions of the records and the extent to which users of records (pregnant women, mothers, caregivers and health-care workers) are knowledgeable and skilful enough to make those expected functions happen. Three key functions, with increasing levels of complexity, may be planned in home-based records: (i) data recording and storage; (ii) behaviour change communication, and (iii) monitoring and referral. We define a function–capacity conceptual framework for home-based records showing how increasing number and complexity of functions in a home-based record requires greater capacity among its users. The type and functions of an optimal home-based record should be strategically selected in accordance not only with demands of the health system, but also the capacities of the record users.