Strobach Tilo, Zaumseil Manfred
Free University, Berlin, Germany.
Health Promot Int. 2007 Jun;22(2):129-36. doi: 10.1093/heapro/dam003. Epub 2007 Feb 28.
A Micro-credit system (MCS) is a financial system to support the economic needs of the poor. It is thought of as a community-based method to solve various problems, including the lack of health-related knowledge. Participants are organized in groups that assemble in regular meetings. Hadi (Hadi in Health Promotion International 16, 219-227, 2001) investigated the MCS as a method to solve the lack of health-related knowledge among the poor in Bangladesh. His result among rural MCS participants shows a positive relationship between the duration of membership in a micro-credit group and health knowledge. Further, more knowledge was ascertained among participants than among non-participants. The present research investigated the effectiveness of the MCS in increasing health-related knowledge. Comparisons were made between rural and urban groups on the basis of three different durations of membership and the influence of TV. This three-factorial design shows a significant increase in knowledge in a very short period in rural areas, whereas in urban areas, no systematic increase was found. TV plays a significant roll in increasing knowledge. Different theoretical conclusions are discussed on the basis of the results.
小额信贷系统（MCS）是一种支持穷人经济需求的金融体系。它被视为一种基于社区的方法，用于解决包括缺乏健康相关知识在内的各种问题。参与者被组织成小组，定期开会。哈迪（《国际健康促进》16卷，219 - 227页，2001年）研究了小额信贷系统作为解决孟加拉国穷人健康相关知识缺乏问题的一种方法。他在农村小额信贷系统参与者中的研究结果表明，小额信贷小组的成员时长与健康知识之间存在正相关关系。此外，参与者比非参与者掌握的知识更多。本研究调查了小额信贷系统在增加健康相关知识方面的有效性。基于三种不同的成员时长以及电视的影响，对农村和城市小组进行了比较。这种三因素设计表明，农村地区在很短时间内知识有显著增加，而在城市地区，未发现系统性增加。电视在增加知识方面发挥了重要作用。根据研究结果讨论了不同的理论结论。
