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Undesirable Levels of Practice Behaviours and Associated Knowledge amongst Community Health Workers in Rural South India Responsible for Type 2 Diabetes Screening & Management
Gudlavalleti, A.G.; Babu, G.R.; Agiwal, V.; Murthy, G.V.S.; Schaper, N.C.; van Schayck, O.C.P. Undesirable Levels of Practice Behaviours and Associated Knowledge amongst Community Health Workers in Rural South India Responsible for Type 2 Diabetes Screening and Management. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 562.
Gudlavalleti, A.G.; Babu, G.R.; Agiwal, V.; Murthy, G.V.S.; Schaper, N.C.; van Schayck, O.C.P. Undesirable Levels of Practice Behaviours and Associated Knowledge amongst Community Health Workers in Rural South India Responsible for Type 2 Diabetes Screening and Management. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 562.
Gudlavalleti, A.G.; Babu, G.R.; Agiwal, V.; Murthy, G.V.S.; Schaper, N.C.; van Schayck, O.C.P. Undesirable Levels of Practice Behaviours and Associated Knowledge amongst Community Health Workers in Rural South India Responsible for Type 2 Diabetes Screening and Management. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 562.
Gudlavalleti, A.G.; Babu, G.R.; Agiwal, V.; Murthy, G.V.S.; Schaper, N.C.; van Schayck, O.C.P. Undesirable Levels of Practice Behaviours and Associated Knowledge amongst Community Health Workers in Rural South India Responsible for Type 2 Diabetes Screening and Management. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 562.
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) presents an enormous global healthcare challenge, especially among rural communities due to limited access. To overcome this, many low- and middle-income countries are resorting to task shifting, using community health workers (CHWs) for diabetes management. However, its successful implementation depends on the practice behaviours and knowledge of these workers.
This cross-sectional study from rural South India aimed to evaluate the proficiency of 275 CHWs in diabetes screening and management. A customized questionnaire, developed through experts and government was used to evaluate the practice behaviours and knowledge. Analytical methodologies consisted of descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and mosaic plots for comprehensive data interpretation.
Results showed significant deficiencies of mean correct practice behaviours at 48 and 50% respectively. The identified gaps included diabetes diagnosis, HbA1c testing, diet, self-management, complications screening and risk assessment. In several areas, correct practice behaviour was reported by a relatively large number of CHWs despite incorrect answers to the related knowledge questions such as referral to the health centres, self-management and calculation of diabetes risk assessment.
Addressing these deficiencies requires a thorough needs assessment and tailored training for improved diabetes management by CHWs. Training of CHWs, should not only identify prior knowledge and/or behaviour but also their interrelationship to help create a robust and flexible set of practice behaviours.
Keywords
Community Health Workers; Health worker Diabetes Knowledge; Health worker Diabetes Practice; Health worker Diabetes Behaviour; South-East Asia
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.