Community Based Management of Malaria: exploring the capacity/performance of Community Based Agents and their motivation in Tamale, northern region of Ghana 2013 (original) (raw)
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Ghana medical journal, 2014
Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Ghana. Very little attention was paid to community participation in malaria control in the past and this has affected most of the desired outcomes. The recent recognition of the importance of community participation in malaria control had informed the implementation of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Childhood Malaria (IPTc). The intervention was implemented in the Shime sub-district of the Keta District in Ghana and this paper reports the evaluation of the community involvement aspect of the project. Semi-structured questionnaire were administered to 105 randomly selected caregivers. A focus group discussion was organized for nine Community Assistants (CAs) and 16 in-depth interviews were conducted with opinion leaders. The tools were used to investigate community attitudes towards, level of awareness and acceptance of the intervention. The benefits of the project and the preferred mode of drug delivery were also inve...
AIMS Public Health, 2016
Background: Malaria is still one of the major public health problems. More than 400 million cases of malaria are reported each year worldwide, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region where about 90% of all malaria deaths in the world occur especially in children under five years of age. Home based management of Malaria showed a tremendous effect on reducing mortalities among children in Ghana. Objectives: to determine the current level of knowledge and skills of mothers in Tamale Metropolitan Area in the northern region of Ghana in terms of disease identification, management and transmission of malaria. Methodology: A cross sectional study conducted in 2013 involved 400 families and mothers/care givers with children less than five years were selected randomly and represented urban, peri-urbanand rural settings. Results: More than 90% 924 AIMS Public Health Volume 3, Issue 4, 923-932. of respondents identified malaria by presence of fever while 57.5% used fever as a cardinal sign. 91% of participants sought early treatment in urban and peri-urban settings while 85% did so in rural sites. 55% of participants administered the correct doses daily but only 17% of them knew the side effects of Antimalarial medications used. Almost all participants were aware about transmission of malaria, when to repeat the drug dose and usage of paracetamol as a medicine to reduce body temperature. Conclusion: The overall knowledge and skills demonstrated are encouraging, there is no much difference between urban and rural settings. Community based initiatives should be strengthened and promoted to provide homemade solutions to saving lives and resources.
Malaria journal, 2011
The community case management of malaria (CCMm) is now an established route for distribution of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in rural areas, but the feasibility and acceptability of the approach through community medicine distributors (CMD) in urban areas has not been explored. It is estimated that in 15 years time 50% of the African population will live in urban areas and transmission of the malaria parasite occurs in these densely populated areas. Pre- and post-implementation studies were conducted in five African cities: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Malawi. CMDs were trained to educate caregivers, diagnose and treat malaria cases in < 5-year olds with ACT. Household surveys, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were used to evaluate impact. Qualitative findings: In all sites, interviews revealed that caregivers' knowledge of malaria signs and symptoms improved after the intervention. Preference for CMDs as preferred providers for malaria incr...
Targeted community based interventions improved malaria management competencies in rural Ghana
Background: Malaria is one of the most challenging public health concerns in the developing world. To address its impact in endemic regions, several interventions are implemented by stakeholders. The Affordable Medicine Facility-malaria (AMFm) is an example of such interventions. Its activities include communication interventions to enhance the knowledge of caregivers of children under five years, licensed chemical sellers (LCS) and prescribers on malaria management with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the AMFm activities on malaria among targeted groups in two rural communities in Ghana. Methods: A communication intervention study was conducted in the Asante-Akim North and South Districts of Ghana. Repeated cross-sectional pre and post surveys were deployed. Relevant malaria messages were designed and used to develop the information, education and communication (IEC) tools for the intervention. With the aid of posters and flipcharts developed by our study, community health workers (CHWs), prescribers, and licenced chemical sellers provided proper counselling to clients on malaria management. Trained CHWs and community based volunteers educated caregivers of children under five years on malaria management at their homes and at public gatherings such as churches, mosques, schools. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were run to determine associations and control for demographic differences respectively. Results: There was significantly high exposure to malaria/ACT interventions in the intervention district than in the comparison district (OR = 16.02; 95% CI = 7.88–32.55) and same for malaria/ACT-related knowledge (OR = 3.63; 95% CI = 2.52–5.23). The participants in the intervention district were also more knowledgeable about correct administration of dispersible drug for children <5 years than their counterparts in the unexposed district. Conclusion: Our data show that targeted interventions improve malaria based competences in rural community settings. The availability of subsidized ACTs and the intensity of the communication campaigns contributed to the AMFm-related awareness, improved knowledge on malaria/ACTs and management practices.
Home Management of Malaria (HMM) is a component of the roll back malaria (RBM) programme being implemented for over a decade to reduce the malaria burden. This study examined the extent to which HMM has raised the ability in promptly recognising and treating malaria at home. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 262 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics and 233 mothers of under-five children using semi-structured questionnaire in Ijebu North and Yewa North local government areas of Ogun State. Data collection also involved focus group discussions. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using EpiInfo 6.04a and Textbase Beta softwares respectively. Only 32.7% of respondents knew about HMM. About 48% preferred analgesics unlike ACTs (0.6%) for malaria treatment. While 45.5% (61.1% Yewa North vs. 29.2% Ijebu North) knew LLIN, only 23.6% used it. Lack of awareness was the major reason for non-use of ACTs (86.1%) and LLINs (71.3%) in HMM. Locality, age, and educati...
Malaria J, 2015
Background Malaria is holo-endemic in Burkina Faso and causes approximately 40,000 deaths every year. In 2010, health authorities scaled up community case management of malaria with artemisinin-based combination therapy. Previous trials and pilot project evaluations have shown that this strategy may be feasible, acceptable, and effective under controlled implementation conditions. However, little is known about its effectiveness or feasibility/acceptability under real-world conditions of implementation at national scale. Methods A panel study was conducted in two health districts of Burkina Faso, Kaya and Zorgho. Three rounds of surveys were conducted during the peak malaria-transmission season (in August 2011, 2012 and 2013) in a panel of 2,232 randomly selected households. All sickness episodes in children under five and associated health-seeking practices were documented. Community health worker (CHW) treatment coverage was evaluated and the determinants of consulting a CHW were analysed using multi-level logistic regression. Results In urban areas, less than 1% of sick children consulted a CHW, compared to 1%–9% in rural areas. Gaps remained between intentions and actual practices in treatment-seeking behaviour. In 2013, the most frequent reasons for not consulting the CHW were: the fact of not knowing him/her (78% in urban areas; 33% in rural areas); preferring the health centre (23% and 45%, respectively); and drug stock-outs (2% and 12%, respectively). The odds of visiting a CHW in rural areas significantly increased with the distance to the nearest health centre and if the household had been visited by a CHW during the previous three months. Conclusions This study shows that CHWs are rarely used in Burkina Faso to treat malaria in children. Issues of implementation fidelity, a lack of adaptation to the local context and problems of acceptability/feasibility might have undermined the effectiveness of community case management of malaria. While some suggest extending this strategy in urban areas, total absence of CHW services uptake in these areas suggest that caution is required. Even in rural areas, treatment coverage by CHWs was considerably less than that reported by previous trials and pilot projects. This study confirms the necessity of evaluating public health interventions under real-world conditions of implementation.
BMC Public Health
Background: Malaria remains endemic in Ghana despite several interventions. Studies have demonstrated very high levels of asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia in both under-five and school-age children. Mass testing, treatment and tracking (MTTT) of malaria in communities is being proposed for implementation with the argument that it can reduce parasite load, amplify gains from the other control interventions and consequently lead to elimination. However, challenges associated with implementing MTTT such as feasibility, levels of coverage to be achieved for effectiveness, community perceptions and cost implications need to be clearly understood. This qualitative study was therefore conducted in an area with ongoing MTTT to assess community and health workers' perceptions about feasibility of scale-up and effectiveness to guide scale-up decisions. Methods: This qualitative study employed purposive sampling to select the study participants. Ten focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in seven communities; eight with community members (n = 80) and two with health workers (n = 14). In addition, two in-depth interviews (IDI) were conducted, one with a Physician Assistant and another with a Laboratory Technician at the health facility. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, translated and analyzed using QSR NVivo 12. Results: Both health workers and community members expressed positive perceptions about the feasibility of implementation and effectiveness of MTTT as an intervention that could reduce the burden of malaria in the community. MTTT implementation was perceived to have increased sensitisation about malaria, reduced the incidence of malaria, reduced household expenditure on malaria and alleviated the need to travel long distances for healthcare. Key challenges to implementation were doubts about the expertise of trained Community-Based Health Volunteers (CBHVs) to diagnose and treat malaria appropriately, side effects of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) and misconceptions that CBHVs could infect children with epilepsy. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that MTTT was perceived to be effective in reducing malaria incidence and related hospital visits in participating communities. MTTT was deemed useful in breaking financial and geographical barriers to accessing healthcare. The interventions were feasible and acceptable to community members, despite observed challenges to implementation such as concerns about CBHVs' knowledge and skills and reduced revenue from internally generated funds (IGF) of the health facility.
Ghana Medical Journal, 2021
Objectives: This study aimed to assess communities’ perception and adoption of the evidenced-based malaria diagnosis and case management intervention targeted at under-five children. The effectiveness of trained Volunteer Community Health Workers (VCHWs) to diagnose malaria among under-five children using rapid diagnostic testing kit, provide treatment using Artemisinin Combination Therapy and rectal Artesunate were assessed.Design: A qualitative evaluation study was conducted in October 2015.Setting: Communities in the 6 rural wards in Ona-Ara Local Government Area, Oyo State Nigeria.Participants: Caregivers of under-five children, community–based frontline health workers, and community leaders selected using purposively sampling.Methods: Nine Focus Group Discussions and 15 Key Informant Interviews were conducted using a pre-tested guide. Data were subjected to thematic analysis.Results: It was disclosed that VCHWs promoted people’s access to prompt and appropriate malaria treatmen...