Table 6 Findings of qualitative interviews

Acceptability to consumers

Increase in knowledge

We learnt how to deal with children and (particularly) their behavioral issues. We also came to know about why do they (children with developmental disorders) (mis)behave; it was very nice to learn about this program because we did not know about these simple but helpful strategies that we know now. (Consumer)

Trustable relationship with the provider

We find it easy to talk to her (provider) and discuss our challenges (of implementing program strategies) with her during the sessions. She patiently listens to our other (family) problems that are not related to the child (and program) and shows interest; we feel good after sharing our problems with her. (Consumer)

Acceptability to providers

Acceptance from family and community

My family has supported me when I shared with them that trainers will come to my place (to do the trainings of other family volunteers). My husband fully supported me (and generously offered) that the mothers of other children who have problem can come to our house for participating in the program. (Family volunteer, who completed the training and delivered the program)

Facilitated learning through the use of training videos

Use of tablet and videos is a good way when mothers cannot understand explanation of the trainer, they can understand it in a better way through training videos. (Family volunteer, who completed the training and delivered the program)

Group sessions—created a sense of shared experience

We learned from experiences of each other and realized that we were always feeling alone (in this problem) but there are others who have similar problem with their children. There were many mothers in our group with different problems of their children and we came to know about their problems also. (Family volunteer, who completed the training but did not deliver the program)

Feasibility to consumers

Household responsibilities as a barrier

We all have household and community responsibilities such as working in the fields, taking care of animals and fetching water; if one has a child with special needs which demands special attention then it sometimes become too much for one to handle. (Consumer)

Feasibility to provider

Timing and duration of group sessions

Most mothers were very co-operative. They came to my place on-time and attended the training sessions attentively. If someone had to go back to home for some urgent work, we would catch-up at a later time. It was also a good learning experience for all the mothers in my village. (Family volunteer)

Cooperation from caregivers

It was easy for people who were educated (to understand the content of program) but it was difficult for the people who were illiterate to understand (the content of program). After completing the training session using videos and explanation from the trainer, the content was easily understood by the illiterate mothers as well. (Family volunteer, who completed training and delivered the program)

Appropriateness to consumers

Cultural relevance of intervention content

In our village we do the same. We have Charpoy (Cot) where we all sit together, get sun bath, some children play with toy cars and others ride the cycles around. So, whatever shown in the video was similar to surroundings of our village. It was very much similar… It was not about city environment. It was mostly about village and our children. (Consumer)

Appropriateness to provider

Relevance of intervention strategies with problems of children

The problems that were showed through video by tablet were very much similar to the problems of children in our village and most of the people could relate to the problems. It includes speech problems, like some children also have difficulty in moving around, difficulty in changing position at bed. (Family volunteer, who completed the training and delivered the program)