The Effect of Self-Care Training for Health Ambassadors on The Number of Doctor Appointment Due to The Treatment of Minor Ailments

Abstract

Background and Objec ti ve: The aim of this study was to inves ti gate the e ff ect of self-care training for family health ambassadors on the number of doctor appointment for the treatment of minor ailments. Materials and Methods: In this interven ti onal study were surveyed 400 families. This study was performed in 2018-2019.The interven ti on group included families that had a health ambassador and the interven ti on was performed for health ambassadors. Data collec ti on tool was a ques ti onnaire designed by the O ffi ce of Educa ti on and Health Promo ti on of the Ministry of Health. Demographic informa ti on and the number of appointments to the doctor were also asked. According to the ti tles of the educa ti onal text and the family age groups, trainings were provided to health ambassadors once every 2 weeks for a year. Total of 24 training sessions were held by the health care providers of the selected health centers. The ques ti onnaires were completed, one year a ft er the interven ti on again. Results: Mean and standard devia ti on of test scores in the experimental group were upgraded before and a ft er the interven ti on in the fi eld of mothers and infants from 5 (± 2.9) to 22 (± 7.1), children from 5.7 (±1 4.1) to 19.6 (±6.6), adults and the elderly were from 2 (±1) to 9.4 (± 2.9) and adolescents from 2.1 (±1.80).Also, the number of appointments to the doctor due to minor illnesses decreased signi fi cantly in the interven ti on group during the year, so that from 888 appointments to the doctor by family members of trained health ambassadors before the interven ti on was reduced to 379 ti mes a ft er the interven ti on.(p<0.05). Conclusion: Con ti nuous self-care training along with following up and training family health ambassadors play an important role in increasing public awareness and reducing the number of unnecessary appointments to the doctor.