Community engagement and context in setting up a multi-faceted longitudinal intervention in rural India: The Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative

The Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative programme is a ten-year joint initiative consisting of four separate but harmonised intervention studies in Mysore (India), Johannesburg (South Africa), Shanghai (China) and two provinces in Canada. They will test evidence-based multi-faceted interventions spanning from preconception into the postnatal period, to improve maternal, infant and child health, including cardiometabolic and neurocognitive well-being. Similar to the other studies, the India study was based on developmental origins of health and disease principles. However, it had to be adapted to fit in with the local socio-cultural context and government policy. We considered the contextual factors in our setting and undertook extensive engagement and formative work with the local community to develop the intervention package and plan delivery methods. This article describes the process we adopted to set up the India project, develop the intervention package and delivery methods.