The impact of training informal health care providers in India: A randomized controlled trial

Delivering health care to mystery patients Many families in developing countries do not have access to medical doctors and instead receive health care from informal providers. Das et al. used “mystery” patients (trained actors) to test whether a 9-month training program improved the quality of care delivered by informal providers in West Bengal (see the Perspective by Powell-Jackson). The patients did not identify themselves to the providers and were not told which providers had participated in the training program. The results of this blinded assessment showed that medical doctors delivered better care than informal providers but that the training program closed much of the gap. Science , this issue p. 80 ; see also p. 34