ABSTRACT
Life skill education develops young people'#39;s capacity o engage in positive behaviours that nurture their own well-being, set personal goals, and grow successfully as self-suf cient adults. The life skills education of children helps develop a concept of oneself as a person of worth and dignity. In the present study 28 Government high school children of 8 and 9 standard of both genders in the age group 13-15 with asthma and epilepsy were selected for the study. Once the children and parents expressed the interest in taking part in the study, home visit and school visits were conducted to collect information from the parents. In-depth interview and FGD (Focus Group Discussion) were conducted for children, parents and teachers to obtain the information as complete as possible on the participants'#39; past and current illness and its management. The results were classi ed under four themes '#39;perception on children with chronic illnesses'#39;, '#39; rst aid management in the school'#39;, '#39;Safety and security during rst aid management'#39; and '#39;Peer group support'#39;. FGD with parents arrived with three themes were '#39;Perception on children with speci c chronic illness'#39;, '#39;First aid management in the school'#39; and '#39;Peer group support'#39;. In-depth interview with class teacher: 50 percent teachers were ready to give care for children but 50 percent of the teachers stated that they have no time to give special care besides some risky involved in providing care. There was no special system of education for the children with chronic illness.
ABSTRACT
Background: Pakistan is among the countries which have the highest maternal, neonatal and child mortality rates. Immediate efforts are required to enable Pakistan to achieve the health related sustainable development goals. The continuum of care interventions can substantially reduce the mortality burden, however local evidence to implement them is lacking in Pakistan. We implemented the maternal, neonatal and child health intervention package comprised of health facility strengthening, capacity building, continuum of care interventions and community mobilization and evaluated its effectiveness on maternal, neonatal and child health care practices and neonatal mortality.Methods: The intervention package was delivered through existing public health system in a rural district of Pakistan. We used a quasi-experimental design to assess the impact of interventions. Baseline and end line surveys were conducted and neonatal mortality was considered as the primary outcome measure. Data were analysed using bivariate and difference and difference analysis techniques.Results: We found a reduced risk of neonatal mortality (RR 0.704; 95% CI 0.557-0.889; p=0.0033), in intervention areas compared to control area. For secondary outcomes; including mortality for infants and under five children, antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, institutional deliveries, postnatal care, delayed bathing, inappropriate cord care practices, birth asphyxia, exclusive breastfeeding and immunization a significant difference (p<0.001) was observed in the intervention area compared to control area.Conclusions: This study provides local evidence from Pakistan that effective methods for delivering MNCH interventions within the existing health infrastructure can improve the MNCH outcomes especially in the rural areas