CORE Group Nutrition Working Group
Positive Deviance/Hearth is a successful home-based and neighborhood-based nutrition program for children who are at risk for malnutrition in developing countries. It has enabled hundreds of communities to reduce their levels of childhood malnutrition and to prevent malnutrition years after the program’s completion.
The “positive deviance” approach is used to find uncommon, beneficial practices by mothers or caretakers of well-nourished children from impoverished families. The approach calls for spreading these practices and behaviors to others in the community with malnourished children.
A “hearth” is the setting where the nutrition education and rehabilitation part of the program is carried out. Suggesting a family around a fireplace or kitchen, “hearths” are carried out in home settings where caretakers and volunteers prepare “positive deviant” foods. They practice beneficial child care behaviors and feed malnourished children with extra energy-rich/calorie-dense supplemental meals.
- Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on PD/Hearth
- What are the essential elements of an effective PD/Hearth program?
- Where will PD/Hearth work?
- How Does PD/Hearth Complement Ministry of Health Essential Nutrition Services?
- How does PD/Hearth fit with other nutrition and child survival interventions?
Resources
PD/Hearth Manual --Explains step-by-step how to identify at-risk children; conduct a Positive Deviance Inquiry; conduct Hearth sessions; and set up a monitoring and evaluation system.
| PD Hearth -Spanish |
| PD Hearth -French |
| PD Hearth -Indonesian |
| PD Hearth -Portuguese |
PD/Hearth Addendum
This 2009 addendum to the PD/Hearth Manual discusses how PD/Hearth interacts with other nutrition and child health interventions, provides essential elements for implementation of an effective PD/Hearth program, and guides the reader to resources for further information.