Knowledge on Health Promotion Approach among Public Health Midwives in a District in Sri Lanka

Abstract

BackgroundThe Ottawa Charter defines Health Promotion as the 'process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health'. The National Health Promotion Policy recognizes health promotion as an efficient and cost effective approach to promote health in Sri Lanka. The Public Health Midwife (PHM) is the grass root level health worker responsible for promoting the health of communities in Sri Lanka. Their knowledge regarding health promotion has not been assessed. The main aim of this study was to describe their knowledge on health promotion and associated factors. Methods A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among all PHMM (N=364) in the Kandy District who were eligible, using a self-administered questionnaire. Level of knowledge was based on scores obtained for responses to close ended questions and case scenarios. Results Knowledge on health promotion was 'poor' among 238 (65.4%). Incorrect labeling of other activities as activities using a health promotion approach was common 257(70.6%). Training programmes 285(73.9%) were the commonest source of knowledge while 95(26%) were never trained on health promotion approach during their career. The factors that were significantly associated with a level of 'good' knowledge on health promotion in multivariate analysis were; experience in the public health field less than 20 years (p=0.012), participating in training programmes on health promotion (p=0.03) and experience in implementing health promotion programmes (p=0.04). Conclusions The study concludes that PHMM in the Kandy District have a 'poor' level of knowledge on health promotion and recommends increasing training opportunities and improving opportunities for application to improve the situation.

Public Health Midwives as a Family Health Care Worker to Promote Vaginal Health: Evidence from a Community Study in Sri Lanka

“…It is a proven fact that older age groups perform less in short-term memory, making it difficult for them to acquire and retrieve information ( 5 ). The PHMs who were trained on health promotion had a ‘good’ level of knowledge in contrast to the present study ( 6 ). The major areas that the PHM’s lacked knowledge in the present study were on reproductive tract infections and possible causes for pathological vulvo-vaginal discharge ( Table 1 ).…”

Vaginal Discharge Assessment form for Utilization by Primary Health Care Workers in a Community Setting

“…A survey done to identify essential public health functions of field health staff in Sri Lanka, indicated that PHMs accept that health promotion is a function applicable to their work [23]. However, the most stated perceived benefit of health promotion approach was that it makes the duties of a PHM easier which is contrary to the common belief that it increases the work load of PHMs, adding more burden to them [23]. Therefore the introduction of a tool to assess vaginal discharge will not be an additional burden to them, but will make their life easier.…”

Knowledge, attitudes, and skills among primary health care workers in developing health promotion settings in a district of Sri Lanka

“…However, they stated that health promotion principles were difficult to grasp and that their skills were insufficient for executing good health promotion programmes (Fernando et al,2006). According to a study conducted in Sri Lanka's Kandy area, the majority of PHMs (65.4 percent) had a poor understanding of health promotion (Perera, 2012).…”