Participation in microfinance based Self Help Groups in India: Who becomes a member and for how long?

Ahmad, Danish; Mohanty, Itismita; Irani, Laili; Mavalankar, Dileep; Niyonsenga, Théophile

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0237519

Cited by 22 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper uses secondary data collected from 17,232 women from an Integrated microfinance and health literacy (IMFHL) program that was implemented in rural Uttar Pradesh, India between 2012 and 2017 (please see [ 52 ] for a detail description of this survey). The program aimed to provide low-income women with maternal and newborn health literacy delivered through a microfinance platform [ 38 , 48 , 52 ]. Under the program, a quasi-experimental survey design was used to collect cross-sectional survey data in two rounds (round 1 in 2015; round 2 in 2017) to evaluate the program’s impact on knowledge and health behaviours of women during pregnancy, delivery and post-delivery in Uttar Pradesh [ 38 , 48 , 52 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under the IMFHL program, implementation districts were selected comprising high maternal and neonatal mortality burden with a higher percentage of scheduled caste (SC)/tribe (ST) and low literacy [ 52 ]. SC/ST are members from communities designated by the Indian Government to have historically faced ‘extreme social, educational and economic backwardness arising out of the traditional practice of untouchability’ and afforded legislative protection and entitlements [ 54 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Imfhl Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The IMFHL program was a community-driven and rapidly scalable program that integrated health promotion activities in a microfinance platform across low developmental districts of UP [44,52]. Details of the IMFHL implementationand health intervention have been published elsewhere [44,52]. The health promotion component sought to address community-related barriers mainly related to low health literacy and poverty and to encourage women to adopt preventive health behaviours known to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality [44,52].…”

Section: The Imfhl Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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

Ahmad

Mohanty

Hazra

et al. 2021

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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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% 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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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Imfhl Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Imfhl Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The knowledge of danger signs of obstetric complications among women in rural India: evaluating an integrated microfinance and health literacy program

Ahmad

Mohanty

Hazra

et al. 2021

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Expansion, cohesion and diversity: The network advantages of microfinance groups in Indian villages

Lee,

Singh

2023

J of Intl Development

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Social network approaches on microfinance self‐help groups (SHGs) find that their organizational capacity lies in network expansion—a social capital basis for various policy interventions through SHGs. To what extent do SHGs create connections in and out of the group boundaries in the caste‐ and gender‐segregated India? This study adds group cohesion and contact diversity as potential network advantages and fully assesses the relationship‐spanning structure of SHGs in India. Modelling network structures in 71 villages in the Diffusion of Microfinance dataset, we identify SHGs' community bonding as well as bridging capacities through the simultaneously expanded and cohesive helpful exchange ties. However, SHG members' exchange ties are more caste‐ and gender‐homogeneous, suggesting that SHGs bond rather than bridge individuals across these salient socio‐demographic groups. We develop a policy imperative to promote mixing based on the socio‐demographic composition when aggregating individual SHGs into higher‐level units.

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State, Community and Private Interests in Local Governance: A Review and Research Agenda

Misra,

Kudva

2024

India Studies in Business and Economics

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Participation in microfinance based Self Help Groups in India: Who becomes a member and for how long?

Abstract: Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here:

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

The knowledge of danger signs of obstetric complications among women in rural India: evaluating an integrated microfinance and health literacy program

The knowledge of danger signs of obstetric complications among women in rural India: evaluating an integrated microfinance and health literacy program

Expansion, cohesion and diversity: The network advantages of microfinance groups in Indian villages

State, Community and Private Interests in Local Governance: A Review and Research Agenda

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