Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Ghana Med J. 2021 Sep;55(3):198-205. doi: 10.4314/gmj.v55i3.4.
This study aimed to assess communities' perception and adoption of the evidenced-based malaria diagnosis and case management intervention targeted at under-five children. The effectiveness of trained Volunteer Community Health Workers (VCHWs) to diagnose malaria among under-five children using rapid diagnostic testing kit, provide treatment using Artemisinin Combination Therapy and rectal Artesunate were assessed.
A qualitative evaluation study was conducted in October 2015.
Communities in the 6 rural wards in Ona-Ara Local Government Area, Oyo State Nigeria.
Caregivers of under-five children, community-based frontline health workers, and community leaders selected using purposively sampling.
Nine Focus Group Discussions and 15 Key Informant Interviews were conducted using a pre-tested guide. Data were subjected to thematic analysis.
It was disclosed that VCHWs promoted people's access to prompt and appropriate malaria treatment. The communities accepted the VCHWs; the reasons given for this included the following: effectiveness of VCHWs in case management of malaria; good inter-personal relationship with caregivers; and the positive health outcomes associated with services provided by them. In addition, community members expressed satisfaction with the VCHWs and provided them with all the support needed to function throughout the malaria case management intervention. The VCHWs considered the support as a great source of encouragement.
The use of VCHWs to treat malaria was adjudged to be effective and considered acceptable to the communities. The adoption of the intervention and its integration into the primary health system by the government is advocated for in medically underserved rural communities.
This work was supported by UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (project ID: A80550 [Nigeria] through funds made available by the European Commission (FP7) for research to improve community access to health interventions in Africa.
本研究旨在评估社区对针对五岁以下儿童的基于证据的疟疾诊断和病例管理干预措施的认知和采用情况。评估经过培训的志愿社区卫生工作者（VCHWs）使用快速诊断检测试剂盒诊断五岁以下儿童疟疾、使用青蒿素联合疗法进行治疗以及直肠青蒿琥酯治疗的效果。
2015 年 10 月进行了一项定性评估研究。
尼日利亚奥约州奥纳-阿拉地方政府区 6 个农村区的社区。
使用目的性抽样选择了五岁以下儿童的照顾者、社区一线卫生工作者和社区领袖。
使用预先测试的指南进行了 9 次焦点小组讨论和 15 次关键知情人访谈。对数据进行了主题分析。
研究结果表明，VCHWs 促进了人们获得及时和适当的疟疾治疗。社区接受了 VCHWs；给出的原因包括：VCHWs 在疟疾病例管理方面的有效性；与照顾者建立良好的人际关系；以及他们提供的服务带来的积极健康结果。此外，社区成员对 VCHWs 表示满意，并为他们提供了在整个疟疾病例管理干预期间运作所需的所有支持。VCHWs 认为这种支持是一种巨大的鼓励。
使用 VCHWs 治疗疟疾被认为是有效的，并且被社区所接受。倡导在医疗服务不足的农村社区中采用该干预措施并将其纳入初级卫生系统。
这项工作得到了联合国儿童基金会/开发计划署/世界银行/世界卫生组织热带病研究和培训特别规划署、世界卫生组织（日内瓦，瑞士）（项目 ID：A80550 [尼日利亚]）的支持，资金由欧洲联盟委员会（FP7）为改善非洲社区获得卫生干预措施的机会而提供。
