Care Groups are an innovation in reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health (RMNCH)
programming that is gaining increasing recognition because of their effectiveness in promoting behavior
change and expanding population coverage of key interventions. This paper provides policy makers and
donors with an introduction to the Care Group approach and an overview of the evidence of their
effectiveness.
This report describes a delivery strategy for expanding coverage of key RMNCH interventions called Care
Groups. We will describe here what Care Groups are, their history, the field experience with the use of
this delivery strategy, evidence of their effectiveness and cost, how they might be integrated into
government health programs, and proposed next steps for expanding their use and further
documenting their effectiveness.