Participatory Communication Unlocks a Powerful Cultural Resource: Grandmother Networks Promote Maternal and Child Health

Based on a presentation at the World Congress on Communication for Development, October 2006, Rome, Italy, this is an abstract of a Communication for Development and Social Change Journal article published in Volume 2, no. 1, 2009. From the abstract: "In virtually all socio-cultural settings in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific senior women, or grandmothers, are part of family and community systems in which women and children are embedded. Furthermore, across cultures, in all matters related to the health and development of women and children, grandmothers are expected to teach, guide and support these younger members of society. Andreas Fuglesang, Swedish, and a pioneer in Communication for Development, discussed the critical role of the elders in traditional societies as the 'information storage and processing unit' of a society, responsible for storing and retrieving the information resources necessary for a society’s survival. And he referred to grandmothers as a learning institution in the community. It is surprising, therefore that maternal and child health and nutrition programs and the communication strategies that support them have seldom seriously taken into account the pervasive presence and experience of senior women, or grandmothers, who are influential advisors in families across cultures.

Aiming to take advantage of this largely untapped cultural resource, a methodology for involving and strengthening grandmothers’ role as maternal and child health (MCH), advisors in families and communities was developed by The Grandmother Project, an American NGO [non-governmental organisation]. The “grandmother-inclusive methodology” works through grandmother social networks and leaders. It uses participatory methods of communication as dialogue to acknowledge the important role of grandmothers and to challenge these senior, experienced women in the community to combine 'traditional' and 'modern' knowledge in order to strengthen their contribution in promoting the well-being of women and children. In Laos, Senegal and Mali experiences using this methodology have demonstrated that the inclusion of grandmothers in MCH programs increases the cultural relevance of development programs, leading to greater community support for these initiatives and, in turn, contributes to greater program effectiveness."