Child undernutrition and stunting remain serious public health problems in Indonesia. According to the Health Belief Model, increasing mothers' knowledge of stunting is fundamental to establishing accurate threat perceptions predictive of behavior change. The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of factors related to maternal knowledge of stunting in Indonesia by addressing three questions: 1) How familiar with stunting are Indonesian mothers? 2) What antecedent factors do Indonesian mothers associate with stunting? and 3) What health effects do Indonesian mothers associate with stunting? A total of 3,150 mothers participated in structured face-to-face interviews. Study measures targeted four main variables. Mothers were asked: 1) Have you heard of stunting?; 2) Have you heard of shortness?; 3) What causes stunting/shortness?; and 4) What are the effects of stunting? Only 66 (2.1%) mothers reported having heard of, read about, or knew something about stunting. Approximately two-thirds of participants attributed stunting to hereditary factors. Interrupted growth (33.7%), idiocy (13.8%), and easy to get sick (11.8%) were identified as health effects of stunting. Results highlight the need for health promotion and education efforts focused on increasing basic knowledge of stunting, its causes, and its health effects among Indonesian mothers.
Background: Stunting in young children continues to be a major concern in developing country settings, including middle income countries like Indonesia. Early intervention is critical to prevent increased morbidity and mortality, lower cognitive functioning, and diminished productivity in adulthood. Mothers may benefit from knowledge and information related to stunting causes and effects. Indonesia has readily adopted a variety of platforms, which are now being used to disseminate health information. The purpose of this study was to address two related research questions: 1) What are the primary sources of Indonesian mothers' stunting-related knowledge? 2) What factors are associated with using these various platforms to access stunting-related information? Method: Mothers (n = 745) responded to questions about demographics and the source of stunting knowledge, which included hospitals, the Internet, midwives, posyandu (community health posts), and puskesmas (public health centers). Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with mothers' reported use of the three most common sources to acquire information about stunting, including posyandu, puskesmas and the Internet. Results: Eighty percent of mothers in this study sample used posyandu, 31.7% puskesmas, and 16.9% used the Internet as a source for stunting-related knowledge. For the three most common sources, factors associated with each included not accessing the other sources. Conclusions: Indonesian mothers are using a variety of platforms and services to acquire How to cite this paper:
Background It is assumed that the health conditions of urban women are superior to their rural counterparts. However, evidence from Asia and Africa, show that poor urban women and their families have worse access to antenatal care and facility childbirth compared to the rural women. The maternal, newborn, and child mortality rates as high as or higher than those in rural areas. In Uganda, maternal and newborn health data reflect similar trend. The aim of the study was to understand factors that influence use of maternal and newborn healthcare in two urban slums of Kampala, Uganda. Methods A qualitative study was conducted in urban slums of Kampala, Uganda and conducted 60 in-depth interviews with women who had given birth in the 12 months prior to data collection and traditional birth attendants, 23 key informant interviews with healthcare providers, coordinator of emergency ambulances/emergency medical technicians and the Kampala Capital City Authority health team, and 15 focus group discussions with partners of women who gave birth 12 months prior to data collection and community leaders. Data were thematically coded and analyzed using NVivo version 10 software. Results The main determinants that influenced access to and use of maternal and newborn health care in the slum communities included knowledge about when to seek care, decision-making power, financial ability, prior experience with the healthcare system, and the quality of care provided. Private facilities were perceived to be of higher quality, however women primarily sought care at public health facilities due to financial constraints. Reports of disrespectful treatment, neglect, and financial bribes by providers were common and linked to negative childbirth experiences. The lack of adequate infrastructure and basic medical equipment and medicine impacted patient experiences and provider ability to deliver quality care. Conclusions Despite availability of healthcare, urban women and their families are burdened by the financial costs of health care. Disrespectful and abusive treatment at hands of healthcare providers is common translating to negative healthcare experiences for women. There is a need to invest in quality of care through financial assistance programs, infrastructure improvements, and higher standards of provider accountability are needed.
One in four children under 5 years of age in the developing world are stunted (chronically malnourished). Reducing stunting can be a challenge, especially in populous countries where families are dispersed, as is the case in Indonesia. This paper describes how one government project (Indonesia's National Nutrition Communication Campaign [NNCC]) delivered effective behavior change communications interventions that reached 40 million people. This paper focuses on four challenges that nutrition campaigns often face and provides useful lessons for similar campaigns, based on the experience of NNCC, which include the following: 1) Fully engaging stakeholders at all levels in campaign design and implementation ensured broad-based support for stunting reduction efforts; 2) Pro-actively involving journalists in nutrition campaigns improved public opinion about stunting and positively influenced decision-making in policy formulation; 3) Use of humorous public service announcements with limited technical information was effective in engaging priority populations; and 4) Social media (YouTube ads, web advertorials, Facebook pages, Twitter, Instagram) extended the campaign's reach and reinforced messaging from other sources. Based on NNCC's experience, specific recommendations are provided.
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