10.4.2  Home visits

You may face a difficult situation where the family of a child who needs referral refuses to take the child to an in-patient facility. Or sometimes you may not be sure about the presence of a particular complication and whether to refer a child or not. In such instances, you need to organise a home visit in between the OTP days to follow the progress of the child. If a child is not gaining weight while taking the Plumpy’nut®, you may also want to do a home visit to understand if there is inappropriate sharing of food at home which means the child is not receiving enough nutritious meals.

In all instances of home visits, try to assess the child in exactly the same way that you would assess them during a routine weekly follow-up in your health post. In addition, do your best to provide psychological support to the family in order to encourage them to care for the child properly. Discuss with the family if there are any factors that are preventing them from following your earlier advice.