Organizing Health Camp: Opportunities for Building Public Health Skills.

Health camps are one of the commonly performed activities by different organizations with different intentions. The purpose ranges from reaching out to unreached populations to increasing client base and thus increasing revenue generation. A multi-speciality health camp was organised at Rural Health & Training Centre (RHTC), Mendhasala, Khurdha. We describe the camp profile and utilization of different specialties in this study. The camp was attended by mostly adults and elderly (90.3%) and inhabitants of the same village (80.5%). General medicine (30.6%) and orthopedics (31.9%) were the two specialties most consulted at the said camp. The success of a health camp is described by the number of attendees, which looks only at resource utilization. We have documented the lessons learned from organizing a health camp from a public health learning point of view. A 10-point checklist is recommended for the successful organization of a health camp.

Effectiveness of peer-led intervention in control of non-communicable diseases in rural areas of Khordha district: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The main contributors to death and disability from chronic illnesses in developing nations are elevated blood pressure (hypertension), blood sugar (diabetes mellitus), and blood cholesterol (dyslipidaemia). Even though there are affordable treatments, the treatment gap for these conditions is still significant. Few pilot studies from industrialized nations discuss the value of peer-led interventions for achieving community-level management of blood pressure and blood sugar. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-led intervention compared to standard care in achieving control of selected non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Indian context at 1 year of intervention among people of 30-60 years with hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus and/or dyslipidaemia. METHODS: A cluster-randomized controlled trial will be conducted in villages of two rural blocks of the Khordha district of Odisha from August 2023 to December 2024. A total of 720 eligible participants (360 in the intervention group and 360 in the control group) will be recruited and randomized into two study arms. The participants in the intervention arm will receive a peer-led intervention model for 6 months in addition to standard care. The sessions will be based on the six domains of NCDs - self-care, follow-up care, medication, physical activity, diet, limiting substance use, mental health and co-morbidities. The mean reduction in blood pressure, HbA1C, and blood cholesterol in the intervention arm compared to the standard care arm will be the main outcome. DISCUSSION: The increasing burden of NCDs demands for newer strategies for management. Peer-led interventions have proven to be useful at the international level. Incorporating it in India will have remarkable results in controlling NCDs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) CTRI/2023/02/050022. Registered on 23 February 2023.

Spectrum of Population Availing COVID-19 Teleconsultation Services during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Tertiary Care Center of Eastern India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a defining situation globally, and the outpatient services were also affected due to the closure of many healthcare facilities. The study was conducted to know the spectrum of the population availing teleconsultation and their needs for consultation. A cross-sectional study conducted in AIIMS Bhubaneswar, India, from May 2021 to June 2021in which the beneficiaries availing of the COVID-19 teleconsultation service were taken as study was participants and a total of 423 participants participated in the study. The proportion of participants who availed of the services in the age group 20-39 years was 67.8%. The participants from the urban area were 81%. Very few or almost nil participation were observed in the category of semiskilled, unskilled, and unemployed occupations. The reasons for availing of teleconsultation services were, for the treatment of COVID-19 disease (45%), distressed consultation for the medication (21%), and seeking advice for testing (13%), related to COVID-19 vaccination (6%) and 9% consulted to know the prognosis of the disease. Steps should be taken to expand the teleconsultation services to the underserved rural community and the people with lower educational status.

Capacity Building of Frontline Workers for Detection of Children (0-6 Years) with Developmental Delays in a Rural Setting: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.

INTRODUCTION: Development during the early stage of life i.e. in the first 1000 d is crucial in determining the psychosocial productivity of a child in the future. Frontline workers (FLWs) are not trained to detect of developmental delays (DDs) in children under the national programme of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) in India. OBJECTIVE: To train the FLWs and assess the effectiveness of a training strategy in detection of DDs in children less than 6 y of age using a cluster-randomized trial approach. METHODS: A community-based interventional study was conducted in Khurdha district of Odisha. Training was imparted to FLWs in intervention arm using a training module developed in regional language. Knowledge level of FLWs was assessed before and after the training in both study arms using a structured questionnaire, and data were analyzed in IBM SPSS 22. Outcomes were compared using chi square, Student t (both paired and unpaired) and Man-Whitney U test. After 3 mo of intervention, the investigator examined a sample of children (intervention arm: 870, control arm: 847) for DDs using the Denver Developmental Screening Test II. RESULTS: The mean difference in knowledge scores of FLWs was found to be 7.26 (8.8 to 5.7) and 1.11 (1.38 to 0.84) in intervention and control arm, respectively. Case detection rate by FLWs in intervention and control arm was 61.5% and 9.09%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Capacity building of the FLWs should be considered by the government for integrating them in the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) programme for screening children.

Acceptance of covid-19 vaccine among the healthcare providers in India.

Background: By increasing immunity, the corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccine is expected to reduce the rate of infection and severity of infection, as well as the rate of hospitalisation. Healthcare providers (HCPs) can provide a good example when it comes to their health habits. HCPs are believed to have the best vaccine acceptance rates because they are open-minded and informed. By concentrating on COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among HCPs in India, the current study gives a clear picture of vaccine acceptability. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study approach was used. Participants in the study gave their informed permission. Snowball sampling was employed to spread the survey around social media platforms (mostly WhatsApp groups and email IDs). The survey was open from April 1 through April 30, 2021, and a total of 316 responses were received. SPSS software, version 25, was used for statistical analysis (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: The participants' average age was 32.8 ± 9.7, with 57% of them being male. 16.5% of the 316 individuals had a history of chronic illness. 40.5% had ever experienced COVID-19 symptoms, and 24.1% had been diagnosed with COVID-19 while on duty. Only 16.5% strongly agreed that they could get COVID-19 in the near future, and 48.1% disputed that obtaining COVID-19 infection would make them very unwell. Only 40.5% of participants were concerned about the possible side effects of the vaccine, while 63.2% were not concerned about the possible side effects of the vaccine. Only 39.2% were concerned about the affordability (high price) of vaccines. The majority (95%) of participants agreed to be vaccinated when sufficient information was provided, and only 31.7% agreed to be vaccinated if they were vaccinated free of charge. Conclusion: Due to the high level of current willingness among healthcare professionals to accept COVID-19 vaccines, these data may not be available to the general public. Understanding the complex and interrelated factors that influence vaccination decisions and the determinants of vaccine hesitancy in a particular population is essential to inform interventions to improve immunization coverage.