Community resource centres to improve the health of women and children in Mumbai slums: a cluster randomized controlled trial of a complex intervention.

Background: Urban health is a critical but under-researched requirement for India s development. The Government of India plans a National Urban Health Mission which recommends decentralization and partnerships between the public, private and non-government sectors. Goal: To improve the health of women and children in Mumbai. Objectives: The research programme aims to develop and test a model strategy to improve women s and children s health in Mumbai. The strategy turns on community resour ce centres at satellite locations in urban slums. Each centre will be developed in partnership with its surrounding community and health care providers, and staffed by two community mobilizers. With backing and support from a non-government organization hub, they will collect and disseminate health information, identify families at risk, make referrals to appropriate services and follow them up, coordinate community health promotion events, communicate with service providers, and promote interac tion between communities and providers. Design: The strategy will be tested in a cluster randomised controlled trial. Community resource centres will be set up in 20 urban slum clusters and outcomes will be compared with those in 20 control clusters. Outcomes: Externally comparable indicators of maternal health and infant feeding, women s reproductive health, childhood nutrition, and domestic violence.