The challenges of institutionalizing community-level social accountability mechanisms for health and nutrition: a qualitative study in Odisha, India

BACKGROUND: India has been at the forefront of innovations around social accountability mechanisms in improving the delivery of public services, including health and nutrition. Yet little is known about how such initiatives are faring now that they are incorporated formally into government programmes and implemented at scale. This brings greater impetus to understand their effectiveness. This formative qualitative study focuses on how such mechanisms have sought to strengthen community-level nutrition and health services (the Integrated Child Development Services and the National Rural Health Mission) in the state of Odisha. It fills a gap in the literature on considering how such initiatives are running when institutionalised at scale. The primary research questions were ‘what kinds of community level mechanisms are functioning in randomly selected villages in 3 districts of state of Odisha' and 'how are they perceived to function by their members and frontline workers’. METHODS: The study is based on focus group discussions with pregnant women and mothers of children below the age of 2 (n = 12) and with women’s self-help groups (n = 12); interviews with frontline health workers (n = 24) and with members of community committees (n = 36). Interviews were analysed thematically using a priori coding derived from wider literature on key accountability themes. RESULTS: Four main types of community-based mechanisms were examined – Mothers committees, Jaanch committees, Village Health and Sanitation Committees and Self-Help Groups. The degree of their effectiveness varied depending on their ability to offer meaningful avenues for participation of their members and empower women for autonomous action. Notably, in most of these mechanisms community participation is very weak, with committees largely controlled by the frontline workers who are supposed to be held to account. However, self-help groups showed real levels of autonomy and collective power. Despite not having an explicit accountability role, these groups were nevertheless effective in advocating for better service delivery and the broader needs of their members to a level not seen in institutional committees. CONCLUSIONS: The study points to the need for community-level mechanisms in India to adequately address issues of participation and empowerment of community members to be successful in contributing to service improvements in health and nutrition. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-3600-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.