Effectiveness of a Structured Teaching Programme Regarding Knowledge on Health Appraisal of School Children Among Teachers of Selected Government Primary Schools of Davanagere

In India, about 30% of the total population is comprised of school going children. Thus, school children constitute a vital and substantial segment of population. They are the future citizens and asset for their families and nation. School children are vulnerable segment of the population and they are prone to get specific health problems. Health appraisal is a major component of school health programme. The role of the school teacher is very important and fundamental in school health services, participation of the teacher in child care is of great value and there is no substitute for this. Thus, the researcher felt the need to conduct the study and evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching programme for school teachers on health appraisal of school children.

Objectives:

1. To assess the existing knowledge of school teachers regarding health appraisal of school children through pre-test knowledge scores. 2. To determine the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on health appraisal of school children as measured by post-test knowledge scores. 3. To find out the association between pre-test knowledge and selected baseline variables.

Methods: Pre-experimental one group pre-test post-test design was adopted to accomplish the objectives of the study. A sample of 50 school teachers was selected by using purposive sampling technique. Initial knowledge of the teachers on health appraisal was determined by administering structured knowledge questionnaire. A validated STP on health appraisal was given to the teachers and its effectiveness was determined by post-test knowledge score.

Results: Findings of the study revealed that the mean percentage of knowledge in the pre-test was 46.86% (mean: 14.06±3.519) and the mean percentage of post-test was 80.53% (mean: 24.16±2.985). Further effectiveness was tested using paired 't' test. The difference between pre-rest and post-test knowledge scores was found to be significant (t49=17.647, P<0.05). Conclusion: From the study findings, it is revealed that there was significant increase in the knowledge scores of the school teachers after structured teaching programme. Therefore, it was concluded that planned teaching programme was highly effective in improving the knowledge of school teachers regarding health appraisal of school children.