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Nepal Child Health Diarrhea Treatment: Qualitative research to inform ORS and zinc promotion

In Nepal, SHOPS Plus is supporting the Nepal CRS Company (CRS), a Nepalese social marketing organization and key USAID partner, to strengthen its child health program and launch an oral rehydration solution (ORS) and zinc co-pack. SHOPS Plus and CRS will launch the product in two distinct areas of Nepal to develop and test effective commercial approaches and community-based demand creation activities. The first activity area will be within four hill districts where CRS is already implementing community-based social and behavior change activities called the Remote Area Initiative. The second area of implementation is in an area where the population is denser, the roads are better, and commercial infrastructure is stronger. In order to maximize the effectiveness of co-pack promotion activities, SHOPS Plus conducted qualitative research with caregivers of children under five to better understand diarrhea care seeking and treatment perceptions and practices. These findings will inform social and behavior change messages as CRS promotes its new co-pack as well the child health modules of the Remote Area Initiative curriculum. This qualitative research was also used to pre-test brand options (e.g., package design, product name) for CRS’s new co-pack.