Improvement of Knowledge and perceptions towards tuberculosis among Anganwadi workers after simple intervention

‘Anganwadi Worker’ approach has regained credibility in recent years through its support of tuberculosis prevention and control, in particular awareness, treatment adherence support etc. Studies have shown that Anganwadi Worker can be utilized as potential resource person for delivery of health education about tuberculosis and need to be oriented towards various aspects of it.The present study was undertaken to measure the effectiveness of role play method on knowledge and perceptions of Anganwadi Workers pertaining to tuberculosis. A cross sectional study where all 103 Anganwadi Workers from rural provinces of Western Maharashtra State, India participated in role play competition and completed pre and post intervention questionnaire. Each completed questionnaire was assigned scoring system. The data was analysed by using ‘Paired t test’. Significant improvement in knowledge was found after role play competition (Pre test mean marks: 4.23, post test mean marks: 7.42, t = 20.58, p < 0.001). Statistically significant difference was observed for all knowledge based questions regarding TB. The study reported favourable attitudes of participants towards tuberculosis after an intervention. There was significant improvement in Anganwadi Worker's knowledge regarding TB from pre to post-intervention as a result of role play method. It indicates that even a simple intervention like role playing can make significant change in knowledge of Anganwadi Workers about TB.