RESUMEN
Mothers and children in any country comprise a large vulnerable population subgroup. In order to address the myriad health needs of women and children, maternal and child health (MCH) services have been bolstered in India. Tribal women are facing many hurdles in the utilisation of MCH services which is ultimately affecting their health outcomes.This study aimed to explore the issues and challenges faced by tribal women during the utilisation of MCH services. Beneficiaries were facing issues like hospital environment and sub-centre issues, travelling/ transportation problems, lack of family support, awareness issues, and personal, social, and political issues while utilising maternal and child health services of tribal areas.It was concluded that there is a need to reduce the problems faced by tribal women regarding the utilisation of MCH services to enhance their level of satisfaction in order to promote maternal and child health which will ultimately help in achievement of SDGs.
RESUMEN
Background: Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) is the grass root level worker and hence plays a prime role in making primary healthcare accessible to rural areas. She creates awareness on health and persuading the community toward local health planning and hence plays major role in increasing utilization of health services. The knowledge of the people about the availability of ASHA in their area and about the activities performed by her also play important role in utilization of services given by ASHA. Hence, keeping this in view the present study was conducted. Aim and Objectives: (1) The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of the rural women about the availability of ASHA in their area and (2) to assess the knowledge of the rural women about the activities performed by ASHA. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in rural field practice area of Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab. The study was a cross-sectional type and the adult decision maker female of the family was interviewed using a pre-designed and semi-structured pro forma after approval from Institutional Ethics committee. A total of 1521 females were interviewed. Results: The present study revealed that majority (52.3%) of the respondents were in the age group of 24–45 years, 41.7% illiterate and 54.6% in the upper lower class. It was found that 45.8% respondents were visited by ASHA and out of these, majority of the respondents (78.2%) were visited for Maternal and child health services followed by health awareness (20.7%) and minor illnesses (9.9%). Conclusion: The visits by ASHA were irregular and majority of the respondents were visited by ASHA for maternal and child health services in all the three villages and hence knowledge regarding these activities was seen to be more among the respondents. However, overall less knowledge was seen among the villagers about other activities being performed by ASHA worker.
RESUMEN
This study was conducted in the four villages of the field practice area of the Rural Health Training Center with the objective to study the efficiency of maternal and child health (MCH) services in terms of quantitative indicators of MCH services. It was a cross-sectional study and the participants were the beneficiaries of MCH services. The methodology adopted was a supervision and observation of the routine services provided by the team of the field workers. The data collected was, analyzed in the Epi-Info software and presented in the form of tables and charts. The family planning coverage was found to be 57.7%, family size 5.4, 100% coverage of tetanus immunization of pregnant mothers, in 0-1 year age group Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) coverage was 94.0%, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus type 3/oral polio vaccine type 3 (DPT-3/OPV-3) coverage was 56.7% and coverage of measles was 29.3%, in 0-5 year age group coverage was 96.4%, DPT-3/OPV-3 coverage was 88.1% and coverage of measles was 82.6%. The study concluded that there was a need of mobilization of both health personnel and community towards utilization of MCH services.