Date of Award

10-31-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Health Professions Education

First Advisor

Dr. Tabassum Zehra

Second Advisor

Dr. Saima Ali

Third Advisor

Dr. Sana Saeed

Department

Educational Development

Abstract

Introduction: Globally, around 8 million babies are born with a congenital anomaly annually, causing 240,000 neonatal deaths, with 95% disease burden on Low- or MiddleIncome Countries (LMICs). Early neonatal screening, timely referral and management can lead to reduced morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization recommends employing lay health workers as agents to promote health in the face of critical shortage of health service providers worldwide. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of an innovative, learner-centered educational intervention delivered to train lay health workers to screen neonates for external congenital anomalies and to refer affected families towards care.
Methods: A focused curriculum and educational tools were developed. Fifteen health workers were selected for pre-service training. The CARe (Congenital Anomalies Registry) educational intervention was designed for lay health workers, with a 2- week interactive, classroom component followed by 2 weeks of hands-on training, under guided supervision at a selected hospital in Karachi. Knowledge was assessed using pre, post and delayed post-tests, along with concordance between health workers and physician in identifying anomalies. Skills assessment was conducted using a checklist and two focus group discussions were organized to capture health workers’ perspectives on the delivered curriculum.
Results: A statistically significant increase (p-value< 0.001) in knowledge of health workers was depicted by the post-test scores, which were not associated with any socio->< 0.001) in knowledge of health workers was depicted by the post-test scores, which were not associated with any socio- demographic factors. Skills assessment scores showed that 11 out of 15 health workers were either ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ in clinical and communication skills after training. Concordance was assessed using Cohen’s kappa, which was 0.938 with a p-value< 0.001, indicating an ‘excellent’ inter-rater agreement. Thematic content analysis of focus group discussions disclosed positive feedback on overall training, with specific emphasis on the effective strategies used by the content trainers.
Conclusion: The educational intervention was seen to be effective as depicted by the results. Effective training is reliant on meticulous planning, honest execution, teaching expertise and attitude of trainers, supportive supervision and an enabling learning environment. Lay health workers can effectively be utilized to deliver public health interventions in times when developing countries face critical shortage of health service providers.

First Page

1

Last Page

192

Download

Share

COinS