Is health education effective in improving health awareness among garment factory workers?
Journal Title: National Journal of Research in Community Medicine - Year 2018, Vol 7, Issue 3
Abstract
Introduction: Majority of workers in garment factories hail from poor socioeconomic backgrounds with limited knowledge regarding health. Poor health awareness often leads to unhealthy lifestyles in turn resulting in frequent illness, sickness absenteeism, reduced capacity for work and ultimately production losses. Objective: To assess knowledge regarding health and the effectiveness of a structured teaching programme in improving health awareness among workers of select garment factories in Bangalore. Methodology: A structured interviewer schedule was administered to 716 workers in selected garment factories in Bangalore, to assess their baseline knowledge on various health topics. Based on their felt needs, structured training programmes based on the peer to peer teaching model were conducted over a two year period (from June 2013 till May 2015) covering 6 major health domains - access to health care, menstrual hygiene, family planning, maternal health, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS and nutrition. Following the training, the interviewer schedule was administered to a set of unmatched sample to assess change in knowledge, attitude and practice regarding health. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: All workers were female, middle to high school educated, between 18-50 years of age. Baseline knowledge regarding health in all 6 domains was low. Awareness regarding access to women’s health services increased from 80.16% to 97.2%. Use of sanitary napkins during menstruation increased from 40.37% to 71.15%. Absenteeism from work due to menstrual problems was 24 days which reduced to 10 days. Daily fruit consumption increased from 61.09% to 86.8%. Knowledge regarding pregnancy risk factors (at least >2 symptoms) increased from 31.3% to 71.6%. Awareness about family planning methods increased from 80.6% to 98.8%, while current usage of family planning method increased from 45.4% to 72.5%. Conclusion: Health education played a substantial role in improving health awareness among garment workers.
Authors and Affiliations
Merlyn Joseph, Naveen Ramesh, Bobby Joseph
Keywords
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- EP ID EP525763
- DOI 10.26727/NJRCM.2018.7.3.168-172
- Views 96
- Downloads 0
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