Usage of information sources regarding health and hygiene practices by women in Punjab

Information is a source of power and is important for individual growth and survival. Information about health and hygiene is crucial because it influence an individual's quality of life. As far as health and hygiene practices are concerned, women play an active role in getting information about these; hence there is a need to study their information source utilization regarding health and hygiene. The present study was conducted in Ludhiana district of Punjab. Data was taken from 200 rural and urban women of 25-50 years, by the help of an interview schedule. Information sources were taken as informal, formal and mass media sources. Results of the study showed that the use of all information sources by majority of the respondents was low for information on selected health and hygiene practices and informal sources were most referred sources of information on these topics. Consequently the use of more authentic and formal sources should be promoted among the women.