A communications gap

Area of Science:

• Maternal and Child Health
• Health Education
• Medical Anthropology

Background:

• Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) are vital community health resources.
• Integrating TBAs into formal health systems presents significant training challenges.
• TBAs often lack formal education and may be skeptical of Western medical practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the difficulties in training illiterate traditional birth attendants (TBAs).
• To emphasize the need for pretesting educational materials for specific audiences.
• To assess the effectiveness of visual aids in training local midwives (dais).

Main Methods:

• Conducted training classes for dais (local traditional midwives).
• Assessed recognition of common vegetable illustrations in a nutrition class.
• Evaluated the ability of dais to identify a photograph of an eye.
• Observed dais' interpretations of visual aids in the context of their training.

Main Results:

• Dais recognized an average of only 4 out of 25 vegetable illustrations.
• Only 4 out of 30 dais could identify a photograph of an eye.
• Misinterpretations of visual aids were common, with some dais relating them to midwifery concepts.
• The study underscores the importance of culturally appropriate and pretested educational tools.

Conclusions:

• Standardized educational materials may not be effective for all target audiences.
• Thorough pretesting of visual aids and training techniques is essential for successful integration of TBAs.
• Understanding local interpretations and contexts is key to effective health education for traditional birth attendants.