Knowledge and Knowledge on Practice Regarding Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) among Asha Workers in Selected Health Centres of Kamrup (M), Assam

Abstract

Background:The newborn period, spanning from birth to 28 days, is a critical window for interventions that can impact long-term health and well-being. Despite of advances in medical care, newborns remain vulnerable to a range of threats, including infection, malnutrition, hypothermia and hyperthermia. Methodology:A quantitative survey approach with descriptive research design and Multistage simple random sampling technique was adopted to select 135 ASHA workers from the selected health centres of Kamrup (M), Assam. Data was collected by using questionnaire and a checklist. Result: Result revealed that, the majority i.e. 102(75.6%) of ASHA workers had moderate knowledge followed by 19(14.1%) had adequate knowledge and 14(10.3%) had inadequate knowledge. Similarly, majority i.e. 116(85.9%) of ASHA workers had moderate knowledge on practice followed by 17(12.6%) had adequate knowledge on practice and 2(1.5%) had inadequate knowledge on practice. There was weak positive correlationbetween Knowledge and knowledge on Practice (r=0.286, p=0.001) regarding Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) among ASHA workers and found to be statistically significant at p<0.05 level of significance. Overallstatisticalsignificant association was found in regard to age of the ASHA workers with knowledge (?2=18.88, p value=12.49) and age of the ASHA workers with knowledge on practice (?2=15.45, p value=0.016), and the rest of the demographic variables with both knowledge and knowledge on practice found to be statistically non-significant. Conclusion: Keeping in view the findings of the study, the investigator recommends that there is need to strengthen the ASHA’s knowledge and knowledge on practice regarding Home Based Newborn care (HBNC) through refresh training and hands on training.

Introduction

Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) is an Indian government program launched in 2011 under the National Rural Health Mission to reduce newborn deaths within the first 42 days of life. The program relies on Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) who visit newborns at scheduled intervals to provide essential care, ensure vaccinations, monitor health, and promote birth registration. ASHAs receive incentives for completing visits and are specially trained with appropriate equipment.

HBNC is implemented across India except for Goa and Lakshadweep, with over 9 lakh ASHAs visiting 1.3 crore newborns in 2018-19. Assam, a largely rural state in Northeast India with a high infant mortality rate (48 per 1000 live births in 2022), serves as the focus for this study.

The study aims to assess ASHA workers’ knowledge and practice regarding HBNC in Kamrup (M), Assam, and to examine the relationship between their knowledge, practice, and socio-demographic factors. Using a quantitative descriptive survey, data were collected from 135 ASHAs across six health centers in Sonapur sub-district through questionnaires and checklists, analyzed using statistical methods.

Conclusion

Home-based newborn care (HBNC) is astrategy adopted by government of Indiato overwhelm the burden of newborndeaths in the first week of life, it provides continuum of care for newborn andpost-natal mothers. The aim of the study was to assess the Knowledge and Knowledge on Practice regarding Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) among ASHA Workers in selected Health Centres of Kamrup (M), Assam. The result revealed that the majority i.e. 102(75.6%) of ASHA workers had moderate knowledge. Similarly, majority i.e. 116(85.9%) of ASHA workers had moderate knowledge on practice. There was weak positive correlationbetween Knowledge and knowledge on Practice (r=0.286, p=0.001) regarding HBNC among ASHA workers and found to be statistically significant at p<0.05 level of significance, as Knowledge on Practice is assess through checklist and not by Practice thus correlation between Knowledge and Knowledge on Practice is weak. Overallstatistical significant association was found in regard to age of the ASHA workers with knowledge (?2=18.88, p value=12.49) and age of the ASHA workers with knowledge on practice (?2=15.45, p value=0.016), and the rest of the demographic variables with both knowledge and knowledge on practice found to be statistically non-significant. Therefore, the study concludes that there is need to strengthen the ASHA’s knowledge and knowledge on practice regarding Home Based Newborn care through refresh training and hands on training.”

References

[1] Home based care of new born and young child [online]. Gov.in. [cited 2024 Aug 22]. Available from: https://hbnc-hbyc.mohfw.gov.in/ [2] Gov.in. [cited 2024 Aug 22]. Availablefrom: https://nhm.gov.in/index4.php?lang=1&level=0&linkid=491&lid=760 [3] Home based care of new born and young child [online]. Gov.in. [cited 2024 Aug 22]. Available from: https://hbnc-hbyc.mohfw.gov.in/about/hbnc [4] Health indicators of Assam [online]. Gov.in. [cited 2024 Aug 22]. Available from: https://hfw.assam.gov.in/frontimpotentdata/health-indicators-of-assam [5] Choudhury ML, Joshi P, Murry L, Malhotra S, Shankar J. Knowledge and skills of accredited social health activist in home based new-born care in a rural community of Northern India: an evaluation survey. Int J Community Med Public Health [Internet]. 2020 Dec. [cited 2024 Jun] Available from: https://in.docworkspace.com/d/sIOKJreiBAcr6oLYG?sa=cl [6] Pandit SB, Boricha BG, Mhaske A. To assess the knowledge & practices regarding home-based newborn care among Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) in a rural area. Int J Health Sci Res. 2016 Dec;6(12):205-209. [cited 2024 Aug 23]. Available from: https://in.docworkspace.com/d/sIA6JreiBAcjzoLYG?sa=cl

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Ms. Bhagyasree Sharma , Mrs. Dropati Thapa, Ms. Rajkumari Preity Devi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.