Effectiveness of a health education intervention on the knowledge, attitude and practices of teachers regarding physical and psychosocial health of adolescents in Amritsar, Punjab

Authors

  • Pushapindra Kaushal Department of Community Medicine, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana,
  • Tejbir Singh Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab
  • A. S. Padda Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab
  • S. S. Deepti Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20184597

Keywords:

Adolescents, Boys, Health education, Teachers, Drug abuse

Abstract

Background: Adolescents undergo the transition period of adolescence with little knowledge of body’s impending physical, physiological and psychological changes. After parents, teachers have maximum opportunity to support and educate adolescents. This study attempts to study effectiveness of health education on knowledge, attitude and practices of teachers regarding physical and psychosocial health of adolescents.

Methods: The study was started with 155 teachers (teaching class 9th -12th) who willingly participated from 50 senior secondary schools of Amritsar district. After taking informed consent, teachers filled a pretested questionnaire which was followed by an interactive session on adolescent health. To study impact of health education, they were again administered same questionnaire after a period of 3 months. Statistical analysis was on Microsoft Excel, Chi square test, SPSS.

Results: Maximum 74 (47.7%) teachers were aware of psychosocial problems of adolescents as compared to the physical and sexual problems. Only 11 (7.1%) teachers had adequate knowledge about changes occurring during adolescence. Majority 125 (80.6%) of teachers had no knowledge regarding height and weight gained during adolescence and more than 2/3rd [110 (71%)] of teachers were unaware of daily calorie and protein requirements. Only 28 (18.1%) had adequate knowledge about drug abuse. After intervention significant favourable changes were observed in their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding most of above mentioned topics.

Conclusions: Overall knowledge of teachers in most aspects of adolescent health was found to be low, however significant favourable changes were observed after health education was provided to them.

Author Biography

Pushapindra Kaushal, Department of Community Medicine, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana,

Department of Community Medicine,

Associate Professor

References

Kishore J. Concepts and Principles of National Health Programs. In: National Health Programs of India. Dr. J Kishore, Century Publications 11th Ed. 2014: 25.

Prakash O, Giri OP, Mishra AK, Kumar S, Kulhara P. Knowledge and attitude of Indian adolescents towards addiction: Findings from an exploratory survey. J Mental Health Human Behavior. 2009;14(2):74-9.

Gobalakrishnan C, Shunmapiya K. A study on married girl students in Salem, Tamil Nadu. International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Literature. 2014;2(1):29.

Bezbarauh S, Janeeja MK. Adolescents in India-A Profile. UNFPA for UN systems in India, New Delhi, 2000;16:50-6.

Thomas R, Perera R. School-based programmes for preventing smoking. Cochrane Database Systmatic Reviews.2006;19;3:CD001293.

Mc Grath K, Sinclair M. More male primary school teachers? Social benefits for boys and girls. Gender and Education. 2013;25(5):531.

Kaushal P, Singh T, Padda AS, Deepti SS, Bansal P, Satija M, et al. Impact of Health Education on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of teachers regarding reproductive health of adolescents of Amritsar, Punjab. J Clin Diagnos Res. 2015;9(5):18-21.

Shah PS. Perceptions of school teachers about sexual health education. Indian J Applied Res. 2014;4(1):415-7.

Ahmad A, Khalique N, Khan Z, Amir A. prevalence of psychosocial problems among school going male adolescents. Indian J Community Med. 2007;32:219-21.

Puri S, Bhatia V, Swami H, Rai S, Mangat C. Impact of a diet and nutrition related education package on the awareness and practices of school children of Chandigarh. Int J Epidemiol. 2008;6(1).

Perumbilly SA, Anderson SA. Substance Abuse Prevention: Perspectives from India’s Addiction Treatment Professionals. Artha J Social Sci. 2015;14(2):9-32.

Sivagurunathan C, Umadevi R, Rama R, Gopalakrishnan S. Adolescent Health: Present Status and Its Related Programmes in India. Are We in the Right Direction? J Clin Diagnos Res. 2015;9(3):LE01–LE06.

Priyadarshini R, Jasmine S, Valarmathi S, Kalpana S, Parameswari S. Impact of media on the physical health of urban school children of age group 11-17 yrs in Chennai - A cross sectional study. IOSR J Humanities Social Sci. 2013;9(5):30–5.

Hancox R, Milne B, Poulton R. Association between child and adolescent television viewing and adult health: a longitudinal birth cohort study. The Lancet. 2004;364(9430):257–62.

Downloads

Published

2018-10-25

How to Cite

Kaushal, P., Singh, T., Padda, A. S., & Deepti, S. S. (2018). Effectiveness of a health education intervention on the knowledge, attitude and practices of teachers regarding physical and psychosocial health of adolescents in Amritsar, Punjab. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 5(11), 4921–4926. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20184597

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles