Nurturing Care Practice Guide: Strengthening nurturing care through health and nutrition services

This Guide responds to requests from practitioners and country teams who have learned about the Nurturing care framework and want to understand how to adapt health and nutrition services to be supportive of nurturing care and strengthen caregivers’ capacity.

With a focus on responsive caregiving, opportunities for early learning, safety and security, and supporting caregiver well-being, this Guide explores the rationale for giving greater attention to these four components; describes what managers can do to prepare services and better equip service providers; and includes practical suggestions for what service providers can do as part of their ongoing contacts with families.

This Guide is designed for managers and service providers who are responsible for or provide health and nutrition services for young children and their caregivers at any level.

This Guide does not replace skills training. All service providers are encouraged to complete training on one or more of the foundational packages. For those who have already completed one or more courses, this Guide can serve as a review and provide new ideas. For those without this training, this Guide serves as an entry point and provides the user with suggestions on how to start.