Effect of Short Course on the Knowledge and Practice of Housewives Peer Group Activists as Assistance to Lactating Mothers in Providing Exclusive Breastfeeding

BACKGROUND: Efforts to increase the coverage of exclusive breastfeeding require extraordinary innovation supported by many parties, such as community leaders, including Housewives Peer Group activist living as a neighborhood of lactating mothers. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a short course on the knowledge and practice of Housewives Peer Group activists as assistance to lactating mothers in providing exclusive breastfeeding. METHODS: The method of the research was pre and post-test of quasi-experimental. The population was Housewives Peer Group activists in the working area of Tlogosari Wetan Community Health Center, Semarang City. Samples were chosen using purposive random sampling to 37 Housewives Peer Group activists. The intervention given was a short course which should be attended by the group, and the post-test was assessed 1 month after conducting the pre-test. RESULTS: The results of the Wilcoxson Match Paired test showed differences in knowledge (P < 0.05) and practice (P < 0.05) of the Housewives Peer Group activists before and after attending a short course regarding exclusive breastfeeding and lactation management. At the end of the study, the knowledge and practice of the Housewives Peer Group activists increased by 4.21 points and 3.73 points, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Short course on exclusive breastfeeding and lactation management significantly influences the increased knowledge and practice of Housewives Peer Group activists that further improve the quality of transferred information, monitor public health, especially to increase the coverage of exclusive breastfeeding and lactation management for breastfeeding mothers.