TITLE:
Mothers’ and health workers’ perceptions of participation in a child-friendly health initiative in rural South Africa
AUTHORS:
Ntombizodumo Mkwanazi, Tamsen Rochat, Bronwyne Coetzee, Ruth Bland
KEYWORDS:
Primary Health Care; Child-Friendliness; Health Promotion; HIV; South Africa
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.5 No.12,
December
30,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Primary health care clinics promote health in addition to treating illness, but are often perceived as unfriendly and frightening places for children. This research aimed to improve child-friendliness in primary health care settings in a rural, high HIV prevalence area in South Africa. Methods: As part of a larger intervention (“Amagugu” Intervention) health staff in nine primary health care clinics were trained in a child-friendliness approach. 281 enrolled mothers were invited to attend clinic with their primary school-aged children and assessed childfriendliness via structured questionnaires administered by independent assessors; a sub-group also participated in in-depth interviews. Post intervention, focus groups were conducted with 87 primary health staff to determine their experiences of providing child-friendly services. Results: Mothers rated 65% of clerks and 70% of nurses as “very friendly”. Qualitative data showed that heavy clinical loads, limited human resources and inadequate infrastructure were perceived as barriers to child-friendliness, while good clinic leadership and appropriate resources facilitated child-friendliness. Post intervention most health workers reported that child-friendly health promotion activities were rewarding. Conclusions: Providing child-friendliness training and support to primary health care facilities in low-resource settings is feasible, acceptable and yielded encouraging results.