TY - JOUR PY - 2020// TI - Participatory workshop-based intervention for better preparedness and awareness about disaster management among accredited social health activists in India: a brief report JO - Disaster medicine and public health preparedness A1 - Thomas, Jose Jom A1 - H, Chandana A1 - Kulkarni, Praveen A1 - B, Prakash A1 - Murthy M. R., Narayana SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of training programs in improving the knowledge about disaster management among Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in Mysuru, India. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 40 ASHAs of 3 Primary Health Centers in Mysuru district. A 3-h disaster management training and workshop followed by a mock-drill was organized in each center. Knowledge about disaster preparedness and management was assessed before and 1 mo after the intervention using a questionnaire by interview method. The data obtained were entered into an MS Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using licensed SPSS 22 software. RESULTS: The mean score obtained by the ASHAs in pretraining assessment was 37.2 ± 10.4. Improvement was evident in the knowledge and preparedness of ASHAs 1 mo after the training, which showed a mean score of 90.14 ± 5.05. This change in score was statistically significant with a P-value < 0.001 on performing a paired t-test. CONCLUSION: Training programs with mock drills and hands-on activities are effective in improving the knowledge of frontline health workers about disaster management. We recommend such training to be organized in all public health facilities.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1935-7893 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.256 ID - ref1 ER -