Knowledge assessment of accredited social health activist and anganwadi workers about the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram in rural area of District Kathua

Abstract

Background: The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) program is technically known as Child Health Screening and Early Intervention Services. The main purpose of the program is to detect and manage 4Ds which are prevalent in children. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge of ASHA workers as well as anganwadi workers about the RBSK in rural area of District Kathua using semi-structured questionnaire. Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the zone Budhi which is a field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, GMC Kathua. The zone consists of 24 villages with 18 ASHA workers and 35 anganwadi workers and one mobile RBSK team available at Community Health Center, Parole. After obtaining ethical clearance, all the ASHA workers and anganwadi workers were included in the study as they were willing to participate. Results: The present study revealed that majority of the workers were between the age group of 20–40 years. About 71.42% of the anganwadi workers were 12th pass and majority of the ASHA workers were 8th and 10th pass. Majority of the anganwadi workers received training related to RBSK program and knew about the benefits of the RBSK program. About 82.85% of the workers knew about the equipment used by RBSK team members for screening. Conclusion: Anganwadi workers and ASHAs need to be made aware of their perceptions and role in the program so that their efficiency is increased and the percentage of child morbidity and mortality can further be lowered.