IDEAS Model for Demonstration and Replication

This model was developed by CARE India for use within nutrition and health programmes.

• Innovation - innovate and then demonstrate those innovations in the project; evaluate the results of the innovation and repeat it in multiple contexts and sites to validate it as a best practice.
• Documentation - describe best practices e.g., steps, channels, inputs, problems, and document them in both descriptive ("what it is") and instructive ("how and why") terms.
• External Marketing - "sell" best practices to key participants and other stakeholders, and advocate with them for needed policy and regulatory changes; identify replicators and define their roles.
• Assessment & Capacity Building - assess capacity and preparedness of replicators; build targeted capacity while monitoring training and practice.
• Support - motivate potential replicators and support active ones; monitor the rate and quality of replication; reward successful replicators.

"While each of the five IDEAS elements is presented in sequence, activities such as assessing capacity are best done on a recurring basis. This is a critical aspect of the IDEAS model: elements are not steps in a strictly linear progression of events and actions. They can be deployed in iterations, with some elements occurring simultaneously and/or looping back to feed into the process repeatedly during replication."