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Original Research
A training intervention on child feeding among primary healthcare workers in Ibadan Municipality
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine | Vol 8, No 1 | a884 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v8i1.884
| © 2016 Folake O. Samuel, Funmilola M. Olaolorun, Joshua D. Adeniyi
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 14 May 2015 | Published: 20 September 2016
Submitted: 14 May 2015 | Published: 20 September 2016
About the author(s)
Folake O. Samuel, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaFunmilola M. Olaolorun, Department of Community Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Joshua D. Adeniyi, Department of Health Promotion and Education, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
Introduction: Health workers at the primary level are well positioned to provide health information and counselling on child feeding to mothers on antenatal visits. The study was designed to evaluate the effect of training on the knowledge, attitudes and provision of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) information and counselling among primary healthcare (PHC) workers.
Methods: A two-stage cluster sample was used to select health workers for training on IYCF in Ibadan, Nigeria. Baseline, immediate and 4-week post-training surveys were conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of health workers regarding IYCF. Paired t-tests were used to measure differences (p < 0.05) before and after the training.
Results: A total of 124 health workers were trained on current global IYCF recommendations. Participants included community health extension workers (59.7%), nurses (27.4%), community health officers (11.3%), and pharmacy technicians (1.6%). Mean age was 41.8 ± 8.2 years and 95.2% were women. Knowledge of health workers regarding IYCF, particularly complementary feeding, was low at baseline but improved significantly following the training intervention. Attitudes and practices regarding provision of IYCF were suboptimal among health workers at the PHC facilities, but this improved with training.
Conclusion: Health workers at the PHC level need regular retraining exercises to ensure effective counselling on IYCF.
Methods: A two-stage cluster sample was used to select health workers for training on IYCF in Ibadan, Nigeria. Baseline, immediate and 4-week post-training surveys were conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of health workers regarding IYCF. Paired t-tests were used to measure differences (p < 0.05) before and after the training.
Results: A total of 124 health workers were trained on current global IYCF recommendations. Participants included community health extension workers (59.7%), nurses (27.4%), community health officers (11.3%), and pharmacy technicians (1.6%). Mean age was 41.8 ± 8.2 years and 95.2% were women. Knowledge of health workers regarding IYCF, particularly complementary feeding, was low at baseline but improved significantly following the training intervention. Attitudes and practices regarding provision of IYCF were suboptimal among health workers at the PHC facilities, but this improved with training.
Conclusion: Health workers at the PHC level need regular retraining exercises to ensure effective counselling on IYCF.
Keywords
Infant and young child feeding; health workers; primary health care
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Crossref Citations
1. Nutritional counselling interactions between health workers and caregivers of children under two years: observations at selected child welfare clinics in Ghana
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BMC Health Services Research vol: 19 issue: 1 year: 2019
doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4692-y