Innovating home visiting to mothers and infants by community health workers: an action-oriented guide

Abstract Objectives: to describe the process of development and the structure of an action-oriented guide for home visits (HVs) to mothers and infants by Community Health Workers (CHWs). The guide was adopted in a controlled trial aimed at assessing its efficacy in improving CHWs' performance. Methods: steps to develop the guide included: 1) Review of international and national standards and recommendations for community interventions for maternal and child care; 2) Assessment of perceived needs of CHWs and other Family Health professionals regarding prenatal and postnatal HVs; 3) Identification of elements to construct the guide. Results: the Guide provides action-oriented instructions for 10 HVs during prenatal and postnatal period up to 9 months instead of the 18 HVs currently recommended by Ministry of Health. Specific tasks for each visit including assessment and promotion of early child development (ECD) and an action-oriented risk classification are introduced as standardized operational practice. Conclusions: the described approach to guide construction allows adapting the guide contents to the health system context in Brazil and other countries interested in improving quality of HVs by CHWs. The guide, by identifying tasks to be carried out and actions to be taken at each HV, provides an innovative approach and represents a requisite for a more efficient and effective use of their time

Visitas domiciliares inovadoras e a saúde materno‑infantil

Objetivo: Avaliar o efeito de um programa de Visitas Domiciliares Inovadoras (VDI), que é baseado em um guia de orientação, nos conhecimentos e práticas de saúde das mães em relação aos cuidados da criança e durante os períodos pré/pós-natal, e indicadores de saúde materno-infantil (ISMI). Métodos: Estudo transversal e analítico que comparou 195 gestantes e mães que receberam VDI (grupo 1) com o grupo 2, de visitas domiciliares convencionais (VDC), realizado em Unidades de Saúde da Família (USF) de Recife, Pernambuco, entre 2015 a 2016. Dividiram-se 16 equipes de saúde da família em dois grupos: oito equipes receberam treinamento para VDI e oito não receberam. Houve dez VDI com a utilização do guia, durante a gestação e durante os nove meses da criança. As VDC ocorreram uma vez/mês, durante o mesmo período das VDI, mas sem o guia. Após nove meses, as participantes foram entrevistadas através de questionário com conteúdos relacionados à saúde materno-infantil. Resultados: 93 gestantes (49 do grupo 1 e 44 do 2) e 102 mães de crianças (57 do grupo 1 e 45 do 2) responderam aos questionários. Os resultados mostraram melhores indicadores de pré-natal (p=0,005), melhor conhecimento sobre métodos contraceptivos (

Innovating home visiting to mothers and infants by community health workers: an action-oriented guide

Abstract Objectives: to describe the process of development and the structure of an action-oriented guide for home visits (HVs) to mothers and infants by Community Health Workers (CHWs). The guide was adopted in a controlled trial aimed at assessing its efficacy in improving CHWs' performance. Methods: steps to develop the guide included: 1) Review of international and national standards and recommendations for community interventions for maternal and child care; 2) Assessment of perceived needs of CHWs and other Family Health professionals regarding prenatal and postnatal HVs; 3) Identification of elements to construct the guide. Results: the Guide provides action-oriented instructions for 10 HVs during prenatal and postnatal period up to 9 months instead of the 18 HVs currently recommended by Ministry of Health. Specific tasks for each visit including assessment and promotion of early child development (ECD) and an action-oriented risk classification are introduced as standardized operational practice. Conclusions: the described approach to guide construction allows adapting the guide contents to the health system context in Brazil and other countries interested in improving quality of HVs by CHWs. The guide, by identifying tasks to be carried out and actions to be taken at each HV, provides an innovative approach and represents a requisite for a more efficient and effective use of their time

Memorie su le antiche case di Udine di Giovanni Battista della Porta: un archivio aperto per la conoscenza della citt\ue0 storica

Il volume raccoglie i contributi di corredo alla edizione digitale del lavoro a stampa: Memorie su le antiche case di Udine di Giovanni Battista della Porta, a cura di Vittoria Masutti (1984-1987)| The book contains the papers presenting the digital edition of the volume Memorie su le antiche case di Udine di Giovanni Battista della Porta, edited by Vittoria Masutti (1984-1987

Effectiveness of an action-oriented educational intervention in ensuring long term improvement of knowledge, attitudes and practices of community health workers in maternal and infant health: a randomized controlled study

Abstract Background The potential role of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in improving maternal and child health outcomes, particularly in low and middle-income countries and in disadvantaged communities, is receiving increased attention. Adequate and focused training is among the key requisites for enhancing CHWs performances and research is necessary to identify effective training methods. Methods A randomized controlled study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a training course in improving knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of CHWs regarding maternal and infant health. Seventy-eight CHWs belonging to Family Health Units in the city of Recife, Brazil were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The intervention group took part in a four-day interactive training course based on an action-oriented guide to perform home visits to pregnant women and their infants throughout pregnancy and infancy until 9 months of age. KAP in intervention group after training and after 1 year were compared to control group and to baseline. Results Fifty-nine CHWs completed all KAP assessments (31 in intervention and 28 in control group). Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. At 1 year from training, the intervention group had higher overall KAP score (120.65 vs. 108.19, p <  0.001) as well as knowledge (47.45 vs. 40.54, p <  0.001), practice (53.45 vs. 49.11, p <  0.001) and attitudes scores (19.74 vs. 18.81, p = 0.047) than the control group. Moreover, at 1 year from training, the intervention group maintained significant improvements in overall KAP score (120.65 vs. 106.55, p <  0.001) as well as in knowledge (45.45 vs. 42.13, p <  0.001), and practice (53.45 vs. 45.29, p <  0.001) scores with respect to baseline. In the control group, overall KAP (106.59 vs. 108.19, p = 0.345) as well as separate knowledge, attitudes and practices scores remained unchanged. Conclusions A four-day interactive training course on action-oriented home visits to pregnant women and infants produced a sustained improvement of CHWs’ KAP and may represent a model to ensure retention of acquired competences. Trial registration RBR-9gchqr. Date registered: July 21, 2018 (Retrospectively registered)

Innovating home visiting to mothers and infants by community health workers: an action-oriented guide

Abstract Objectives: to describe the process of development and the structure of an action-oriented guide for home visits (HVs) to mothers and infants by Community Health Workers (CHWs). The guide was adopted in a controlled trial aimed at assessing its efficacy in improving CHWs' performance. Methods: steps to develop the guide included: 1) Review of international and national standards and recommendations for community interventions for maternal and child care; 2) Assessment of perceived needs of CHWs and other Family Health professionals regarding prenatal and postnatal HVs; 3) Identification of elements to construct the guide. Results: the Guide provides action-oriented instructions for 10 HVs during prenatal and postnatal period up to 9 months instead of the 18 HVs currently recommended by Ministry of Health. Specific tasks for each visit including assessment and promotion of early child development (ECD) and an action-oriented risk classification are introduced as standardized operational practice. Conclusions: the described approach to guide construction allows adapting the guide contents to the health system context in Brazil and other countries interested in improving quality of HVs by CHWs. The guide, by identifying tasks to be carried out and actions to be taken at each HV, provides an innovative approach and represents a requisite for a more efficient and effective use of their time