Abstract
BackgroundAccredited 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.MethodsWe 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.ResultsWe 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.ConclusionsThe P.A.C.E training program was found effective in improving the life skills and financial literacy of ASHAs in India.
Highlights
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 P.A.C.E training program was found effective in improving the life skills and financial literacy of ASHAs in India
Given that there is a lack of the components of life skills education and financial literacy in the existing training modules of ASHA, we developed a training program
Summary
Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are community health workers responsible for improving the health status of people by facilitating their access to healthcare services. An ASHA is a woman resident in the community trained, deployed, and supported to function in her village to improve people’s health status by facilitating their access to healthcare services. Her job responsibilities are three-fold, i.e., the role of a link-worker (facilitating access to healthcare facilities and accompanying women and children), that of a community health worker (depot-holder for selected essential medicines and responsible for the treatment of minor ailments), and of a health activist (creating health awareness and mobilizing the community for a change). Close to 0.9 million ASHAs are currently trained and deployed across the country [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
