Program Evaluation and Exploratory Study of Reproductive Health Resources in India

Young women living in rural India are an incredibly vulnerable population that lacks adequate reproductive healthcare resources. Their vulnerability is exacerbated by low education levels, young marriage ages, and high poverty rates. This results in poor health outcomes for mothers and babies. The goal of this thesis was to research the environment of reproductive health for women living in India to understand the context that a combative NGO program would have to fit within. I researched influencing factors such as legislation, religion, class division, geography, and education. Governmental resources implemented in public hospitals and through rural health workers are promising, but often they are inadequate, inaccessible, and expensive. I completed a program evaluation of current initiatives to see how NGO’s attempt to resolve shortcomings in governmental care. With that foundation of research, I developed a program proposal to fill in the gaps of current governmental and non-governmental care with a goal of providing culturally competent services.