title: Malaria education from school to community in Oudomxay province, Lao PDR.
abstract: School-based malaria education has been shown to be effective for improving the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of school children toward malaria control. However, little has been reported about the effect of such education on communities in developing countries. To evaluate the influence of school-based malaria education on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of people in the community toward malaria, we conducted a school-based intervention in Oudomxay province, Lao PDR, and compared scores obtained before and after the intervention. Participants were 130 school children in grades 3-5 at two primary schools, 103 guardians of these children, and 130 married women who did not have children in the target grades. The intervention included presentation of a flipchart at home and a 1-day campaign conducted by the school children and aimed at the community. The flipchart presentation was conducted at villages where school children of both primary schools resided. The 1-day campaign was, however, conducted only at one village. Before and after the intervention, we conducted a questionnaire-based survey of community women that pertained to malaria. Our main finding was that, in married women without children in the target grades, particularly those who were presented with the flipchart and participated in the campaign, the scores of the mean knowledge, attitudes and practices were significantly increased 1 month after the intervention. In conclusion, our results suggest that school children can act as health information messengers from schools to communities for malaria control in Lao PDR.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Community Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Masamine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jimba
authors.forename: Bounsou
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vilaysouk
authors.forename: Katsuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Bounlay
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Phommasack
authors.forename: Pratap
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singhasivanon
authors.forename: Jitra
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waikagul
authors.forename: Seiki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tateno
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007812:Laos; D008288:Malaria / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires