Our Approach
WHERE
Odisha, India
More than half of women of reproductive age in India are anemic. About half (51%) of women in Odisha have anemia with a higher rate for women from a tribal culture, those following the Christian faith, and those with no schooling. The study will take place within the Angul district of Odisha, where 44.5% of the population is anemic.


WHO
Women of reproductive age (15-49 years old)
While young children and pregnant women have the highest rates of anemia, non-pregnant women make up the greatest number of individuals with anemia. Mother-in-law’s have been identified as influential figures in the use of iron and folic acid tablets among women of reproductive age therefore they will be included in our implementation activities. We will utilize self-help groups as our medium for reaching our target audience with our implementation activities. Supported by the Odisha Livelihood Mission, self-help groups act as a source of economic empowerment and strength for agency of women.
Women of reproductive age include all pregnant and non-pregnant women between the ages of 15 and 49, a group with high rates of anemia in Odisha
Mothers-in-law not only may be anemic themselves, but also play key social roles in both their household and SHGs that allows them to potentially influence the behavior of others
Self-help groups are groups of approximately 12-15 women who meet regularly primarily to further the economic empowerment of women, but also to promote women’s education, health, and agency
STUDY DESIGN
Cluster-Randomized Control Trial
The 89 clusters of villages were stratified by the proportion of people in a scheduled tribe and cast and 15 clusters in each arm (41 villages in the treatment arm and 40 villages in the control arm) were selected to be included in the data collection for the impact evaluation.

T4 APPROACH
TRAIN
Train-the-trainer model via SHGs
TEST
Hemoglobin counts of women of reproductive age in the community
TELL
Provide information, reminders, and community-level anemia prevalence status to influence individual and collective social norms
TWEAK
Adaptive learning through ongoing monitoring and feedback loops

RANI RESOURCES
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The RANI Project Formative Research Protocol by Sedlander et al. published in Gates Open Research (2018)
REFERENCES
Greenhalgh T, Annandale E, Ashcroft R, et al.: An open letter to The BMJ editors on qualitative research. BMJ. 2016; 352: i563. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
World Health Organization: Strategies to prevent anemia: Recommendations from an Expert Group Consultation. New Delhi. India. 2016. Reference Source
World Health Organization: Global anaemia prevalence and number of individuals affected. Reference Source