A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of a Community-Based Health Education Programme on Knowledge regarding Prevention of Water-Borne Diseases among rural children in selected villages of Kota District

This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of a community-based health education programme on knowledge regarding the prevention of water-borne diseases among rural children in selected villages of Kota District. The study employed a quantitative evaluative approach with a pre-experimental one group pre-test and post-test research design involving 100 rural children aged between 12-18 years from selected villages of Kota. A structured knowledge questionnaire was used for data collection. The community-based health education programme was highly effective in improving knowledge regarding the prevention of water-borne diseases among rural households. The mean knowledge score significantly increased from 10.82 to 33.52 after the intervention, with a calculated t-value of 22.662, which is statistically significant at p<0.05. Chi-square analysis revealed significant associations between pre-test knowledge scores and gender (χ² = 4.322), educational status (χ² = 13.124), monthly income (χ² = 15.661), sanitation facilities (χ² = 10.321), and previous knowledge (χ² = 5.112), all at p < 0.05. However, no significant association was found with age (χ² = 8.213), occupation (χ² = 9.183), and type of water source (χ² = 11.621), as p>0.05. These results support the research hypothesis and confirm the effectiveness of the intervention and the influence of specific demographic variables on knowledge levels. The study confirmed the effectiveness of community-based health education in improving prevention of water-borne diseases management and emphasized the need for sustained educational interventions in rural healthcare settings.