Abstract:

Set in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, this case explores the complexity of addressing maternal and child health and care delivery by looking at health-related behaviors and decision making from the perspective of a frontline health worker. The case is intended to be used in conjunction with GHD-39N (Maternal and Child Health in Uttar Pradesh, India: A Mother’s Story) and GHD-040 (Improving Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in Uttar Pradesh, India).

Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

Learning Objectives: A productive class discussion will allow students to appreciate the decisions facing frontline providers and their beneficiaries, and the numerous factors that influence their choices; how households prioritize health among other needs; and the complexity of aligning health programs with beneficiary needs, cultural context, household dynamics, and other factors to impact health behaviors and outcomes.

Keywords: public health, human resources, health care delivery, decision making, maternal and child health, behavioral economics, resource-limited settings, health care policy, data collection, performance management