Prevention starts here: effectiveness of substance abuse prevention module among adolescent students in Bengaluru - a quasi experimental study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured educational module on substance abuse prevention program among adolescents in enhancing their knowledge against substance abuse. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design was employed involving 120 students (mean age: 14.3±1.03 years, 59.2% boys) from two English medium schools. Participants were exposed to a structured module on substance abuse over a month. The study assessed changes in knowledge through pretest and post-test evaluations. Statistical analyses examined improvements in scores and the relationship between class of study and post-test knowledge scores. RESULTS: The intervention significantly improved students' knowledge about substance abuse (p<0.001) across all measured domains, genders, and classes, with the exception of the 7th class. A positive correlation was found between the class of study and post-test scores (Rs=0.288, p<0.001), indicating that higher classes were associated with greater improvements in knowledge. These findings suggest that the training effectively increased awareness and understanding of substance abuse among participants. CONCLUSIONS: The substance abuse prevention program successfully enhanced adolescents' knowledge and equipped them with resilience and coping strategies, thus reducing their vulnerability to peer pressure and substance abuse. Despite the lack of significant improvement in the 7th class, the overall positive outcomes underscore the importance of implementing such educational interventions to foster healthy development and well-being among students. Further research is encouraged to explore the specific barriers to effectiveness in younger classes and to refine program content accordingly.

A Comparative Study of Depression and Associated Risk Factors among Elderly Inmates of Old Age Homes and Community of Rajkot: A Gujarati Version of the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-G).

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of depression among elderly people varies across different setups such as old age homes (OAHs), community, and medical clinics. AIMS: The aim of this study was to compare the epidemiological factors pertaining to depression among elderly residents of OAHs and community, using a new Gujarati version of the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-G). SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional, epidemiological study conducted in an urban setup of Western India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the eligible 88 elderly residents of all the six OAHs and 180 elderly residents from the same city were administered a pretested semistructured questionnaire having the GDS-G form. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics, odds ratio, Spearman's rank correlation test. RESULTS: The elderly of OAHs were more depressed compared to those of community (odds ratio = 1.84; 95% confidence interval = 1.09-3.06). Older age, females, weaker family ties, economic maladies, poorer self-perception of health status, presence of chronic ailments, absence of recreational activity, lack of prayers, impaired sleep, history of addiction emerged as the predictors of depression in both the setups. More health complaints and a later self-perception of visit to a doctor were found among the depressed than the nondepressed in both the setups. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms were quite high among the elderly in both the setups. Special attention should be given toward health checkups of depressed persons in the OAH and improvement of family ties among depressed persons of the community.

A Score-based Performance Assessment of Maternal and Child Health Services Provided by USHA of Rajkot City.

BACKGROUND: Urban Social Health Activists (USHAs) are the grass root health care workers of urban areas. There are 290 USHAs distributed in various Urban Health Centers (UHCs) of Rajkot city. OBJECTIVES: To compare the (i) effectiveness of the training received by the USHAs on their knowledge and counseling skills (ii) knowledge and counseling skills of USHAs on the awareness and utilization of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) care services by their beneficiaries. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 32 USHAs and 416 beneficiaries served by the same USHAs. 32 USHAs serving in the same field practice area for more than two years were randomly selected. The beneficiaries were those mothers who had a child between 1-2 years age, and who had availed their antenatal and postnatal services in the same area. A scoring system was used to assess the knowledge and counseling skills of the USHAs and the knowledge and utilization of services by their beneficiaries. RESULTS: The utilization of health services was significantly more in the beneficiaries who were serviced by USHAs having comparatively better knowledge (72.7% vs. 35.3%) and counseling skills (62.2% vs. 30.6%). The median score for knowledge (41 vs. 30) and counseling skills (20 vs. 16) of the USHAs was found to be more (P < 0.05) in those who had undertaken induction training. CONCLUSIONS: Induction training helped the USHAs to improve their knowledge and counseling skills. Utilization of MCH services was more in those areas served by USHAs having better knowledge and counseling skills.

Evaluation of integrated Child Development Services program in Gujarat, India for the years 2012 to 2015.

BACKGROUND: The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme has been operational for more than three decades in India. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the various aspects of the ICDS program in terms of inputs, process and outcome (coverage), utilization, and issues related to the ICDS program. METHODS: A total of 130 Anganwadi centers (AWCs) were selected including 95 AWCs from rural areas and 35 AWCs from urban areas from April 2012 to March 2015, from 12 districts of Gujarat and the union territory of Diu. Information was collected for infrastructure, baseline characteristics of AWWs, provision, coverage and utilization of various ICDS services, and various issues related to program operation. RESULTS: A majority of pregnant (94.7%) and lactating (74.4%) mothers, and adolescent girls (86.6%) were availing ICDS services. In 96.9% of the AWCs, a growth chart was available and 92.3% AWWs were using it accurately. A total of 14.9% children were underweight including 13.5% moderately and 1.4% severely malnourished children. Two-third (66.2%) children were covered by supplementary nutrition (SN). Only 14.6% of the AWCs reported 100% preschool education (PSE) coverage among children. More than half (55.4%) of the AWCs reported an interruption in supply during the last 6 months. Various issues were reported by AWWs related to the ICDS. CONCLUSION: The study has reported gaps in terms of infrastructure facility, different trainings, coverage, supply, and provision of SN, status of PSE activities in AWCs, and provision of different services to the beneficiaries.