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Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial

BACKGROUND: Identifying and understanding traditional perceptions that influence newborn care practices and care-seeking behavior are crucial to developing sustainable interventions to improve neonatal health. The Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial (ZamCAT), a large-scale cluster randomized tria...

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Autores principales: Sivalogan, Kasthuri, Semrau, Katherine E. A., Ashigbie, Paul G., Mwangi, Sheila, Herlihy, Julie M., Yeboah-Antwi, Kojo, Banda, Bowen, Grogan, Caroline, Biemba, Godfrey, Hamer, Davidson H.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6002239/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29902234
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198176
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author Sivalogan, Kasthuri
Semrau, Katherine E. A.
Ashigbie, Paul G.
Mwangi, Sheila
Herlihy, Julie M.
Yeboah-Antwi, Kojo
Banda, Bowen
Grogan, Caroline
Biemba, Godfrey
Hamer, Davidson H.
author_facet Sivalogan, Kasthuri
Semrau, Katherine E. A.
Ashigbie, Paul G.
Mwangi, Sheila
Herlihy, Julie M.
Yeboah-Antwi, Kojo
Banda, Bowen
Grogan, Caroline
Biemba, Godfrey
Hamer, Davidson H.
author_sort Sivalogan, Kasthuri
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Identifying and understanding traditional perceptions that influence newborn care practices and care-seeking behavior are crucial to developing sustainable interventions to improve neonatal health. The Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial (ZamCAT), a large-scale cluster randomized trial, assessed the impact of 4% chlorhexidine on neonatal mortality and omphalitis in Southern Province, Zambia. The main purpose of this post-ZamCAT qualitative study was to understand the impact of newborn care health messages on care-seeking behavior for neonates and the acceptability, knowledge, and attitudes towards chlorhexidine cord care among community members and health workers in Southern Province. METHODS & FINDINGS: Five focus group discussions and twenty-six in-depth interviews were conducted with mothers and health workers from ten health centers (5 rural and 5 peri-urban/urban). Community perceptions and local realities were identified as fundamental to care-seeking decisions and influenced individual participation in particular health-seeking behaviors. ZamCAT field monitors (data collectors) disseminated health messages at the time of recruitment at the health center and during subsequent home visits. Mothers noted that ZamCAT field monitors were effective in providing lessons and education on newborn care practices and participating mothers were able to share these messages with others in their communities. Although the study found no effect of chlorhexidine cord washes on neonatal mortality, community members had positive views towards chlorhexidine as they perceived that it reduced umbilical cord infections and was a beneficial alternative to traditional cord applications. CONCLUSION: The acceptability of health initiatives, such as chlorhexidine cord application, in community settings, is dependent on community education, understanding, and engagement. Community-based approaches, such as using community-based cadres of health workers to strengthen referrals, are an acceptable and potentially effective strategy to improve care-seeking behaviors and practices.
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spelling pubmed-60022392018-06-25 Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial Sivalogan, Kasthuri Semrau, Katherine E. A. Ashigbie, Paul G. Mwangi, Sheila Herlihy, Julie M. Yeboah-Antwi, Kojo Banda, Bowen Grogan, Caroline Biemba, Godfrey Hamer, Davidson H. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Identifying and understanding traditional perceptions that influence newborn care practices and care-seeking behavior are crucial to developing sustainable interventions to improve neonatal health. The Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial (ZamCAT), a large-scale cluster randomized trial, assessed the impact of 4% chlorhexidine on neonatal mortality and omphalitis in Southern Province, Zambia. The main purpose of this post-ZamCAT qualitative study was to understand the impact of newborn care health messages on care-seeking behavior for neonates and the acceptability, knowledge, and attitudes towards chlorhexidine cord care among community members and health workers in Southern Province. METHODS & FINDINGS: Five focus group discussions and twenty-six in-depth interviews were conducted with mothers and health workers from ten health centers (5 rural and 5 peri-urban/urban). Community perceptions and local realities were identified as fundamental to care-seeking decisions and influenced individual participation in particular health-seeking behaviors. ZamCAT field monitors (data collectors) disseminated health messages at the time of recruitment at the health center and during subsequent home visits. Mothers noted that ZamCAT field monitors were effective in providing lessons and education on newborn care practices and participating mothers were able to share these messages with others in their communities. Although the study found no effect of chlorhexidine cord washes on neonatal mortality, community members had positive views towards chlorhexidine as they perceived that it reduced umbilical cord infections and was a beneficial alternative to traditional cord applications. CONCLUSION: The acceptability of health initiatives, such as chlorhexidine cord application, in community settings, is dependent on community education, understanding, and engagement. Community-based approaches, such as using community-based cadres of health workers to strengthen referrals, are an acceptable and potentially effective strategy to improve care-seeking behaviors and practices. Public Library of Science 2018-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC6002239/ /pubmed/29902234 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198176 Text en © 2018 Sivalogan et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Sivalogan, Kasthuri
Semrau, Katherine E. A.
Ashigbie, Paul G.
Mwangi, Sheila
Herlihy, Julie M.
Yeboah-Antwi, Kojo
Banda, Bowen
Grogan, Caroline
Biemba, Godfrey
Hamer, Davidson H.
Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial
title Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial
title_full Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial
title_fullStr Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial
title_full_unstemmed Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial
title_short Influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial
title_sort influence of newborn health messages on care-seeking practices and community health behaviors among participants in the zambia chlorhexidine application trial
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6002239/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29902234
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198176
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