CAPA Handbook: A "How-To" Guide for Implementing Catchment Area Planning and Action, a Community-Based Approach to Child Survival

This manual provides step-by-step guidelines as a “how-to” for implementing the CAPA approach, and was developed for use by State Ministries of Health, program managers, technical staff, and donor agencies involved in community-oriented approaches for child survival activities. Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival/Nigeria (BASICS II/N), in collaboration with Nigeria’s federal and state governments, conceptualized and designed a community-based approach (CBA) called Catchment Area Planning and Action (CAPA) to empower community members to take an active role in improving the health of their children in areas of immunization, nutrition, and malaria. CAPA’s approach places the locus of health program development at the community level with the intent of creating community ownership, promoting public and private sector partnerships, and stimulating demand. The approach is flexible enough for adoption by other development ministries and partners in Nigeria or by other developing countries, and its adaptation and its use in other sectors and contexts are encouraged. [abstract]