Assessment of the effect of health education on mothers in Al Maki area, Gezira state, to improve homecare for children under five with diarrhea

INTRODUCTION: Home care of under-five children is one of the most important interventions in the control of diarrheal diseases. It has a significant impact in reducing childhood mortality and morbidity. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of health education on home care of under- five children with diarrheal disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a quasi- experimental study, held in Al Maki neighborhood, which is located in Greater Wad Medani locality, Gezira State, Central Sudan. The study targeted a random sample of 118 mothers who have at least one child under- five years of age with diarrhea needing home management. The study was conducted in three phases. Phase one was a base line survey for the mothers. Intervention phase including different health education approaches, home visits, group sessions and distribution of mother cards through community volunteers and researchers. Post intervention survey using the same pre-intervention questionnaire, and observation of mothers managing their children. RESULTS: Results showed that knowledge of mothers about definition of diarrhea, its danger, when to seek medical help and the three rules of home management which was found to be 35, 28, 13 and 29% improved significantly after intervention to 91, 94, 92 and 93% respectively with a very high significant level. RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommended that volunteers are effective health education provider especially on household based intervention. Health services should support the community based interventions to reinforce the knowledge and practices of mother towards the sick children.