Effectiveness of an action-oriented educational intervention in ensuring long term improvement of knowledge, attitudes and practices of community health workers in maternal and infant health: a randomized controlled study

Autor: Tereza Rebecca de Melo e Lima, Paula Ferdinanda Conceição de Mascena Diniz Maia, Emanuelle Pessa Valente, Francesca Vezzini, Giorgio Tamburlini
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: BMC Medical Education, Vol 18, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1472-6920
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-018-1332-x
Popis: Abstract Background The potential role of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in improving maternal and child health outcomes, particularly in low and middle-income countries and in disadvantaged communities, is receiving increased attention. Adequate and focused training is among the key requisites for enhancing CHWs performances and research is necessary to identify effective training methods. Methods A randomized controlled study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a training course in improving knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of CHWs regarding maternal and infant health. Seventy-eight CHWs belonging to Family Health Units in the city of Recife, Brazil were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The intervention group took part in a four-day interactive training course based on an action-oriented guide to perform home visits to pregnant women and their infants throughout pregnancy and infancy until 9 months of age. KAP in intervention group after training and after 1 year were compared to control group and to baseline. Results Fifty-nine CHWs completed all KAP assessments (31 in intervention and 28 in control group). Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. At 1 year from training, the intervention group had higher overall KAP score (120.65 vs. 108.19, p
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