Background: Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are community health workers responsible for improving the health status of people by facilitating their access to healthcare services. The life skills of ASHA are known to be effective in negotiating behaviour change in the community; however, there has been a meagre focus towards improving them. Considering this gap, we adopted a comprehensive training program, known as Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.), to empower ASHAs on life skills and financial literacy. The present study intends to assess the training program in two districts of Uttar Pradesh, India, by examining changes in knowledge, perceptions, and practices of ASHAs about life skills and financial literacy.Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental, non-randomized, controlled study with pre-and post-test assessments. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and practices related to life skills (communication skills, self-confidence, problem–solving and decision-making skills, time and stress management skills) and financial literacy. Additionally, change perceptions on gender-, life skills-, and savings-related practices at the personal, community, and workplace levels were assessed in the intervention group. Factor analysis was performed to obtain the change patterns by assessing the degree to which the four life skills, financial literacy, and change perceptions on practices were correlated. A general linear regression model was performed to assess associations among change pattern scores and socio-demographic variables.Results: We analyzed the data of 171 ASHAs (intervention group:86 and control group:85). There was a significant improvement in the average post-test scores of all the life skills and financial literacy in the intervention group (p<0.001). Three distinct change patterns were found post-training in the intervention group. Factor 1 (high loadings for change perceptions on practices) was positively associated with ASHAs aged 38 and above and with experience of ≤12 years. On the contrary, the change in financial literacy and self-confidence scores was common among ASHAs with more than 12 years of experience.Conclusions: The P.A.C.E training program was found effective in improving the life skills and financial literacy of ASHAs in India.
Background Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are community health workers responsible for improving the health status of people by facilitating their access to healthcare services. The life skills of ASHA are known to be effective in negotiating behaviour change in the community; however, there has been a meagre focus towards improving them. Considering this gap, we adopted a comprehensive training program, known as Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.), to empower ASHAs on life skills and financial literacy. The present study intends to assess the training program in two districts of Uttar Pradesh, India, by examining changes in knowledge, perceptions, and practices of ASHAs about life skills and financial literacy. Methods We conducted a quasi-experimental, non-randomized, controlled study with pre-and post-test assessments. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and practices related to life skills (communication skills, self-confidence, problem–solving and decision-making skills, time and stress management skills) and financial literacy. Additionally, change perceptions on gender-, life skills-, and savings-related practices at the personal, community, and workplace levels were assessed in the intervention group. Factor analysis was performed to obtain the change patterns by assessing the degree to which the four life skills, financial literacy, and change perceptions on practices were correlated. A general linear regression model was performed to assess associations among change pattern scores and socio-demographic variables. Results We analyzed the data of 171 ASHAs (intervention group:86 and control group:85). There was a significant improvement in the average post-test scores of all the life skills and financial literacy in the intervention group (p < 0.001). Three distinct change patterns were found post-training in the intervention group. Factor 1 (high loadings for change perceptions on practices) was positively associated with ASHAs aged 38 and above and with experience of ≤12 years. On the contrary, the change in financial literacy and self-confidence scores was common among ASHAs with more than 12 years of experience. Conclusions The P.A.C.E training program was found effective in improving the life skills and financial literacy of ASHAs in India.
Frontline workers are instrumental in bridging the gap in the utilization of maternal health services. We performed a qualitative cross-sectional study with medical officers, accredited social health activists (ASHA), and auxiliary nurse midwifes (ANM), across 13 districts of India, in order to understand the barriers and enablers, at the system and population levels, for improving access of adolescents and mothers to services. The data were collected by means of in-depth interviews (IDI) with medical officers and focus group discussions (FGD) with ASHA and ANM in 2016. The interview guide was based on the conceptual framework of WHO health interventions to decrease maternal morbidity. Content analysis was performed. In total, 532 frontline workers participated in 52 FGD and 52 medical officers in IDI. Adolescent clinics seemed nonexistent in most places; however, services were provided, such as counselling, iron tablets, or sanitary pads. Frontline workers perceived limited awareness and access to facilities among women for antenatal care. There were challenges in receiving the cash under maternity benefit schemes. Mothers-in-law and husbands were major influencers in women’s access to health services. Adolescent clinics and antenatal or postnatal care visits should be seen as windows of opportunities for approaching adolescents and women with good quality services.
Background The soft skills of community health workers (Accredited Social Health Activists, ASHA) are known to be effective in negotiating behaviour change in the community; however, there has been a meagre focus towards improving them. Considering this gap, we adopted a comprehensive training program, known as Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.), to empower ASHAs on soft skills and financial literacy. The present study intends to assess the training program in two districts of Uttar Pradesh, India, by examining changes in knowledge, perceptions, and practices of ASHAs about soft skills and financial literacy. Methods We conducted a quasi-experimental, non-randomized, controlled study with pre- and post-test assessments. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and practices related to soft skills (communication skills, self-confidence, problem–solving and decision-making skills, time and stress management skills) and financial literacy. Additionally, perceptions regarding changes in practices related to gender issues, soft skills, and savings at the personal, community, and workplace levels were obtained from the intervention group. Factor analysis was performed to obtain the change patterns by assessing the degree to which the four domains of soft skills, financial literacy, and domains of perceptions of change in practices were correlated to each other. A general linear regression model was performed to assess associations among change pattern scores and socio-demographic variables. Results The data of 171 ASHAs were analyzed (intervention group:86 and control group:85). There was a significant improvement in the average post-test scores of all the soft skills and financial literacy in the intervention group (p<0.001). Three distinct change patterns were found post-training in the intervention group. Factor 1 (high loadings for perceptions related to change in practices) was positively associated with ASHAs aged 38 years and above and with experience of ≤12 years. On the contrary, the change in financial literacy and self-confidence scores was common among ASHAs with more than 12 years of experience. Conclusions The P.A.C.E training program was found effective in improving the soft skills and financial literacy of ASHAs in India.
Background: Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are community health workers responsible for improving the health status of people by facilitating their access to healthcare services. The life skills of ASHA are known to be effective in negotiating behaviour change in the community; however, there has been a meagre focus towards improving them. Considering this gap, we adopted a comprehensive training program, known as Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.), to empower ASHAs on life skills and financial literacy. The present study intends to assess the training program in two districts of Uttar Pradesh, India, by examining changes in knowledge, perceptions, and practices of ASHAs about life skills and financial literacy.Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental, non-randomized, controlled study with pre- and post-test assessments. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and practices related to life skills (communication skills, self-confidence, problem–solving and decision-making skills, time and stress management skills) and financial literacy. Additionally, perceptions regarding changes in practices related to gender issues, life skills, and savings at the personal, community, and workplace levels were obtained from the intervention group. Factor analysis was performed to obtain the change patterns by assessing the degree to which the four domains of life skills, financial literacy, and domains of perceptions of change in practices were correlated to each other. A general linear regression model was performed to assess associations among change pattern scores and socio-demographic variables.Results: The data of 171 ASHA were analyzed (intervention group:86 and control group:85). There was a significant improvement in the average post-test scores of all the life skills and financial literacy in the intervention group (p<0.001). Three distinct change patterns were found post-training in the intervention group. Factor 1 (high loadings for perceptions related to change in practices) was positively associated with ASHAs aged 38 and above and with experience of ≤12 years. On the contrary, the change in financial literacy and self-confidence scores was common among ASHAs with more than 12 years of experience.Conclusions: The P.A.C.E training program was found effective in improving the life skills and financial literacy of ASHAs in India.
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