Research Article

Risks to Early Childhood Health and Development in the Postconflict Transition of Northern Uganda

Table 3

Examples of questions guiding interviews and focus groups.

Postwar living arrangements
 (i) If still in the camp, explain why?:
   Tell me about the impact of remaining in the camp for your children:
 (ii) If in the village, tell me about your return to the village:
   Tell me about the impact of returning to the village for your children:

Current service environment
  (i) Describe the services that are currently available for young children:
  (ii) Who are the existing or potential leaders who are (or could) address the needs of young children in your community?

Nutrition
  (i) Describe what you should feed [NAME]:
  (ii) Is there anything that makes it difficult or stops you from feeding [NAME] these foods? (probe: environment factors, social factors, number of times issue is experienced)
  (iii) Is there anything that helps you feed [NAME] these foods?
  (iv) Describe what happens when you cannot feed her/him the foods you describe:

Health
 (i) Describe what [NAME] needs to be healthy:
  (ii) Describe a safe and happy environment for a young child:
  (iii) In the last two weeks has [NAME] been ill? (Probe illness and treatment.)

Caretaking practices
  (i) Who spends the most time with young children? (Probe who takes care when caregiver is away or busy.)
  (ii) How are young children supervised?

Developmental stimulation
  (i) Describe what children learn in the (1st, 2nd, 3rd year of life-ask according to age):
  (ii) How do they learn each of the skills you mentioned?
  (iii) What does play look like for a child this age? (Probes: whom do they play with? Show me what he/she plays with.)

Questions about young children in war and displacement
  (i) Describe what was different about raising young children before war when people lived in their villages:
  (ii) Did this change during war? (describe)

Risks/barriers and enhancers/facilitators
  (i) What is bad for young children? (i.e., what could prevent them from being as successful as possible?)
  (ii) What should be done to make sure [NAME] and all young children have the chance to become successful adults?

Future outcomes:
  (i) What do you want for [NAME]’s future? (Probes: valued outcomes, measures of success, desirable character traits.)