Participatory Engagement of City Communities Against Non-communicable Disease Risk in Bangladesh and Nepal (PECAN)

Introduction

The PECAN Project is an implementation research initiative that aims to provide a comparative case study on adaptation, application, and evaluation of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) in cities in Nepal and Bangladesh. The research will focus primarily on outcomes of common Non-communicable Disease (NCD) risk, including diet, physical activity, tobacco and alcohol use, blood glucose, blood pressure, and Body Mass Index in representative population samples of adults aged 18 and above.

The PECAN project will be informed by extensive formative research in both Bangladesh and Nepal. Stakeholder engagement will be prioritized to co-design and develop evidence-based strategies for raising awareness, gathering information, and promoting collective community action to address the broad determinants of NCDs.

Objectives

Overall, the PECAN project aims to identify behaviors that mediate NCD risk, the socio-cultural factors that influence these behaviors, design interventions accordingly, and determine the impacts and sustainability of these intervention strategies in mediating NCD risk.

Approach

This project is divided into four phases, each of which have their own specific methods. Phase 1 will be focused on understanding context through stakeholder engagement, literature reviews, epidemiological surveys, community mapping, and focus groups. Phase 2 involves evidence-based planning through participatory data analysis, co-design with relevant stakeholders, and establishing physical activity groups. Phase 3 is implementation, with strategies including recruiting community members into a digital health platform while holding weekly physical activity groups and monthly NCD action group meetings. These interventions will be supplemented by time series data collection, monitoring, and process evaluations. Finally, in Phase 4, the project will conduct a post-intervention surveys and participatory evaluations, sharing the findings with relevant stakeholders.