Training of Trainers for Mother-to-Mother Support ... - Linkages Project

Notes to the Trainer
Purpose and Audience
The purpose of this course is twofold: to train community health workers to facilitate
infant feeding mother-to-mother support groups and to train trainers of community
health workers in the methodology for facilitating mother-to-mother support groups
related to infant feeding. The course emphasizes infant feeding technical content and
mother-to-mother support group methodology. The training approach is geared toward
the practice of conducting support groups. Participants are assumed to already have
interpersonal communication and counseling skills.
Design
The module contains two components: 1) a community training module that can be
used to train community health workers in mother-to-mother support group methodology
and infant feeding content and 2) a training of trainers (TOT) module to use in
combination with the community module. The sessions on facilitating mother-to-mother
support groups and infant feeding for the TOT are the same as those used in the
community module. Because trainers often train as they are trained, it is important to
use the community module to ensure that the participants in the TOT are familiar with
the community module and able to replicate the training.
Four days of the second week are dedicated to practice training. As part of the TOT,
participants practice (using learning sessions from the community module) training
community health workers in facilitating mother-to-mother support groups and infant
feeding content. The second week of practice ensures that the participants feel
prepared to conduct training.
A sample training schedule for the TOT is included. This trainers’ manual also includes
content details, learning objectives, key messages, instructions, time, and materials and
handouts for each learning activity for both community and TOT activities.
As in all training, consideration must be given to tasks to be completed before, during,
and after training. The following table, from the LINKAGES training strategy, outlines
these tasks, as well as the responsibilities of the organization, trainer, and trainee and
the relationships among them.
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