Use of Health Communication Strategies under National Health Mission (NHM) by the Frontline Health Workers: a research in Chhotaudepur (Tribal) District of Gujarat, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 482-495
Author(s):  
Megha Sidhpura ◽  
Anjali Pahad

Health Communication is an integral component of the National Health Mission used for promotion of health programmes and healthy behaviour amongst the communities. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI (2019) a strategic framework for targeted IEC activities using 360-degree communication approach is designed. The Present research was undertaken in a tribal district of Gujarat state-Chhotaudepur to study the barriers related to Health Communication Strategies by the Frontline Health Workers and therefore, a combination of descriptive and analytical methods to explore and describe the existing situation of Health Communication Strategies was adopted. This paper describes about qualitative aspect of the research conducted through total twelve Focus Group Discussions i.e. two in each block (Chhotaudepur, Kawant, Naswadi, Bodeli, PaviJetpur and Sankheda) in which 74 ASHAs, 31 ASHA Facilitators and 34 Female Health Workers. Theme guides was used for FGDs. Results and discussion are illustrated on central themes of research. Data illustrated that majority of the ASHAs faced moderate barriers and significant differences level barriers were reported by those who belonged to Bodeli, having excellent occupational skills, with low knowledge about Health Communication Strategies and average media use expressed Towards Excellence: An Indexed, Refereed & Peer Reviewed Journal of Higher Education / Dr. Megha Sidhpura & Dr. Anjali Pahad / Page 482-495 March, 2021. VOL.13. ISSUE NO. 1 https://hrdc.gujaratuniversity.ac.in/Publication Page | 483 more barriers than their counterparts. Barriers related to availability, accessibility and characteristics of beneficiaries for Health Communication Strategies were faced to great extent by ASHAs and ASHA Facilitators, however, FHWs expressed barriers related to increase in workload due to duplication of data entry at multiple levels and teething problems in TeCHO, In a nutshell, results conclude that despite knowing the fact that Health Communication has a significant role to play, this component of NHM is neglected. Hence, the findings demand serious attention on the part of NHM officials and media experts who are the custodian of the community process component of NHM and also academicians and researchers who can also contribute immensely. It is suggested to pay utmost importance and adopt to evidence-based scientific approach for design, production and provision of tailormade, useful and effective Health Communication Strategies for grass-root level health workers and volunteers to foster communication efforts in improving on social determinants of health, achieving behavioural change.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097206342098309
Author(s):  
Ahmed Farouk Radwan ◽  
Sheren Ali Mousa

Government communication introduced important lessons during the worldwide experience with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to apply known efficacious principles of risk and health communication strategies. The purpose of the study is to depict and explore the United Arab Emirates government communication scenario in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic as well as look at the types of strategies, information and messages delivered via digital mediums to handle challenges that are raised based on the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model. The study includes a qualitative analysis of two government bodies’ digital platforms: ‘The Ministry of Health and Prevention’ (mohap) and ‘Crisis and Disasters Management Authority’. Results indicated that the UAE government used different communication aims and strategies to face the pandemic according to the risk management scenario. In the quarantine phase, communication focused on giving people information about the disease, raising awareness about the disease, motivating health and behaviour change, informing people about government decisions and procedures. In the coexistence phase communication focused on emphasising the necessity of adherence the health measures, providing information on re-work in institutions and commercial centres, involving people in the health and social initiatives, confronting non-compliance with health precautions. Government communication also focused on facing rumours and false information. UAE government communication used digital platforms and social media to address more than 200 nationalities living in the state for ensuring that they adhere to the precautionary measures and coordinate with the authorities. Government communication was committed to a set of values including equality between citizens of the state and residents, societal and individual responsibility, recognising the frontline medical staff and acknowledging their sacrifices. UAE implemented an integrated, coherent and effective scenario to deal with the crisis. It developed risk communication strategies in health communication to manage the COVID-19 crisis by following international standards and also took into account its own political, economic, social and cultural features. The UAE government used many strategies to inform and convince people including clarification of measures strategy, reassurance strategy, ambiguity reduction strategy, behaviour efficacy strategy, correcting misinformation and rumours, advising strategy.


Author(s):  
Obelebra Adebiyi ◽  
Foluke Olukemi Adeniji

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria was established in 2005. This study assessed the utilization of health care and associated factors amongst the federal civil servants using the NHIS in Rivers state. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires. Data were collated and analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. A Chi-square test was carried out. The level of Confidence was set at 95%, and the P-value ≤ .05. Out of a total of 334 respondents, 280 (83.8%) were enrolled for NHIS, 203 (72.5%) utilized the services of the scheme. Most 181 (82.1%) of the respondents who utilized visited the facility at least once in the preceding year. Although, 123 (43.9%) of the respondents made payments at a point of access to health care services, overall there was a reduction in out of pocket payment. Possession of NHIS card, the attitude of health workers, and patients’ satisfaction were found to significantly affect utilization P ≤ .05. Regression analysis shows age and income to be a predictor of utilization of the NHIS. Though utilization is high, effort should be made to remove payment at the point of access and improving the harsh attitude of some of the health workers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Santamaría ◽  
Joaquín Hortal

Abstract One of the largest nationwide bursts of the first COVID-19 outbreak occurred in Spain, where infection expanded in densely populated areas through March 2020. We analyse the cumulative growth curves of reported cases and deaths in all Spain and two highly populated regions, Madrid and Catalonia, identifying changes and sudden shifts in their exponential growth rate through segmented Poisson regressions. We associate these breakpoints with a timeline of key events and containment measures, and data on policy stringency and citizen mobility. Results were largely consistent for infections and deaths in all territories, showing four major shifts involving 19–71% reductions in growth rates originating from infections before 3 March and on 5–8, 10–12 and 14–18 March, but no identifiable effect of the strengthened lockdown of 29–30 March. Changes in stringency and mobility were only associated to the latter two shifts, evidencing an early deceleration in COVID-19 spread associated to personal hygiene and social distancing recommendations, followed by a stronger decrease when lockdown was enforced, leading to the contention of the outbreak by mid-April. This highlights the importance of combining public health communication strategies and hard confinement measures to contain epidemics.


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