0.12 Sample overview

Results by method and datastream are presented in the main text in Chapters 3 through 9. Here we present a brief sample overview and a few illustrative examples chosen to illustrate key project themes. For instance, comparing the behaviors influenced by the ASHA and the Dai, along with community perceptions of their roles, was an early line of evidence highlighting the ‘between’ nature of the ASHA role. We then give an overview of the many lines of evidence regarding ASHA efficacy to show the pathways and behaviors that currently have the highest impact.

Table (0.1) gives an overview of some demographic factors of the women who completed the Project RISE quantitative survey (1200 Mothers and 400 ASHAs). These help acquaint the reader with the data analyzed in later chapters and give a general impression of the populations of interest. The table gives the most common values. Note that the majority of ASHAs and Mothers are Hindu, but that a much higher fraction of Mothers are Muslim (see Chapter 6 for more detail). Similarly for Caste, the most common response for both is OBC but more Mothers (31%) are Scheduled Caste than ASHAs (17%) (and more ASHAs are General Caste).

The other differences give the expected impression that ASHAs are older (by 14 years) and more likely to be literate and have higher levels of education. The most typical parity for the Mothers sample is 1 child, but this is a function of age, as most of the Mothers are young.

Table 0.1: Sample averages or most common values for select descriptors of ASHAs and Mothers recruited to complete the survey questionnaire.

Descriptor	ASHAs	Mothers
Age	38 yrs	24 yrs
Age of youngest child	13 yrs	2.2 months
Religion	Hindu	Hindu
Caste	OBC	OBC
Education	10 yrs	0 yrs
Literacy (%)	100	51
Children	3	1
Experience	10+ yrs	NA

We also compare the self-reported frequencies of doing a select set of behaviors for each sample (Table 0.2). Differences between ASHAs and Mothers could be due to a variety of factors, age differences in particular. The largest shift we see here is in the proportion who had their most recent birth in a hospital (institution), which has increased by over 40% from ASHAs to Mothers. This is likely in part due to the ASHA program itself (the maternal experience of many of the ASHAs did not include an ASHA).

We see other signs of increased compliance with biomedical recommendations from ASHAs to Mothers (with Mothers being more compliant), such as increased ANC Registration, a reduction in bathing within 24 hours, and a reduction in applying substances to the cord stump. One exception in these self-reports is the proportion reporting to have taken the full IFA regimen. Perhaps it is noteworthy that many more of the Mothers who did not complete their IFA dosage reported that they partially completed it. Especially traditional or normative behaviors, like practicing Chhathi or concealing the pregnancy for the first few months, are practiced at nearly identical proportions in each sample, which we interpret as a sign of stability. More descriptive detail on these, and other, health behaviors can be found in Chapter 7 and detailed analysis of how they are influenced in Chapter 8.

Table 0.2: Comparisons of the proportions of respondents in each sample who reported doing these select behaviors in their most recent pregnancy.

Behavior	ASHAs	Mothers
Institutional Delivery	0.38	0.83
ANC registration	0.29	0.52
IFA tablets	0.45	0.34
Increased diet during pregnancy	0.26	0.15
Feeding Colostrum	0.79	0.83
Bathing newborn within 24 hr	0.42	0.32
Applying substance to the cordstump	0.68	0.58
Chhathi	0.73	0.74
Conceal pregnancy	0.87	0.87