Assessing program sustainability of two community‐based child nutrition intervention programs in the Peruvian rural highlands

Abstract

Effective interventions should be sustained over time to achieve lasting impact on child growth and nutrition. Knowledge about program sustainability and its assessment methods are scarce, contradictory and fragmented. We conducted a study in 21 communities, 2 yrs after project termination of 2 different 5-yr intervention programs for reducing stunting, executed by ADRA-Peru (n=12) and CARE-Peru (n=9). Both programs were intended to be sustainable. We measured sustainability by operationalizing constructs of routinization (resource, adaptation, values and rules) and standardization (institutional standards). Each community received a 1-wk visit for 2-hr semi-structured interviews with 4–6 program delivery actors, to identify continued activities and their sustainability level. Focus groups were conducted with mothers of young children to triangulate the responses of program actors. Evidence of any sustained activities was identified in only 3 ADRA and 5 CARE communities. In communities with any continuation, main adaptations included reduction in the number and frequency of activities. We conclude that few activities were sustained, their level of sustainability was weak, and none were institutionalized. Bringing a theoretical framework to sustainability was useful to this evaluation, and potentially to design programs of greater sustainability. Funders: NIH and Cornell University. Grant Funding Source: NIH and Cornell University