Abstract
Background The 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).
Highlights
The Ottawa Charter defines health promotion as “the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health”[1]
All PHMM employed by the Provincial Health Department for a minimum period of 6 months and not working in field areas designated for training purposes were included
A majority (238, 65.4%) of PHMM in the Kandy district had a poor level of knowledge on health promotion
Summary
The Ottawa Charter defines health promotion as “the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health”[1]. The Public Health Midwife (PHMM) is the main grass root level health care worker in Sri Lanka who promotes health of communities. Over past decades, their range of duties has evolved from narrow attending of child birth to a broader range of promoting maternal and child wellbeing[3]. 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. When considering the ability to read English, only 106 (29%) declared their ability as either ‘fairly good’ or ‘excellent’
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