ABSTRACT
An innovation launched by Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences emphasized on promoting early child development through govt. Anganwadi centers under the project ‘Stepping Stones’. The innovation includes delivery of Enhanced Anganwadi Curriculum and Parenting Sessions through home visits by trained Anganwadi Workers with support from Community Health Workers. A system of computerized online and of training certification test was developed. This paper outlines the results of feasibility and acceptance of this system by Community Health Workers in maternal and child health programs.METHODSPre-tested questionnaire with questions on different aspects of certification test and responses with Likert-type scoring scale was provided to 30 randomly selected community health workers trained by DMIMS. Weighted means of total scores for agreement/disagreement for feasibility and acceptability questions was calculated.RESULTSAverage Weighted Mean of 4.07 demonstrated a strong agreement by all participants towards the feasibility and acceptability of this test. 47.67% candidates showed strong agreement.CONCLUSIONSSuch type of tests can be framed and utilized as, time saving screening, and certification test, for different types of community healthcare cadre.
ABSTRACT
Background: Dental caries is one of the most common chronic diseases of early childhood. Dental problems in early childhood have been shown to be predictive of future dental problems, growth and development by interfering with comfort, nutrition, concentration, and school participation. Aim: To find out the prevalence of Early childhood caries (ECC) among the children attending the Anganwadis of Wardha district, to determine the feeding habits and their relationship to early childhood caries. Materials and Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study among the selected Anganwadis children of 2-5 years of Wardha district. Result: A total 330 subjects, 105 children were found to be having ECC, 47 (30.92%) males and 58 (32.58%) females. Total 215 children belonged to 43-60 months age group. Out of these, 72 (33.48%) children were having ECC. A significant association was found between the history of bottle-feeding and ECC (P = 0.0218). Prevalence of ECC was more among those who were bottle-fed than those who were not bottle-fed. Conclusion: Future health promotion and education programs in Anganwadis should include oral health issues and the risk factors for ECC, and its consequences should be addressed. Public-funded oral health program should be started and targeted at children from lower socioeconomic status. Effective strategies should be developed to promote use of brush and paste for cleaning teeth and discouraging inappropriate bottle-feeding, discouraging on demand consumption of chocolates and sugars.