Factors that affect the adoption and maintenance of weekly vitamin A supplementation among women in Ghana

Public Health Nutrition

Betty Kirkwood¹  Carl Kendall¹  Charlotte Tawiah Agyemang¹  Zelee Hill¹  Eunice Adjei¹  Paul Arthur¹ 

关键词: Vitamin A supplementation;    Adherence;    Maternal mortality;    Information;    education and communication;    Ghana;   

DOI  :  10.1017/S1368980007382554

学科分类：卫生学

来源: Cambridge University Press

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveTo identify regimen, individual, community and cultural factors that affect adoption and adherence to weekly vitamin A supplementation in Ghana.DesignFifty semi-structured interviews were conducted with women who would be eligible for vitamin A supplementation, 30 with husbands, and 13 with drug sellers, birth attendants and health workers. Six focus group discussions were also conducted with women. These interviews were followed by a 4-month capsule trial with 60 women. Data from a previously conducted communication channel survey of 332 women were also reviewed.SettingThe study was conducted in Kintampo District in central Ghana.SubjectsParticipants for the semi-structured interviews and focus groups were selected from four villages and the district capital, and women in the capsule trial were selected at random from two villages.ResultsKnowledge of vitamins was low and taking ‘medicines’ for long periods and when healthy is a new concept. In spite of this, long-term supplementation will be accepted if motives are explained, specific questions answered and clear instructions are given. Potential barriers included the idea of ‘doctor’ medicines as curative, false expectations of the supplement, forgetting to take the supplement, losing the supplement, travelling, lack of motivation, perceived side-effects, concerns that the supplement is really family planning or will make delivery difficult, and concerns about taking the supplement with other ‘doctor’ or herbal medicine, or when pregnant or breast-feeding, or if childless.ConclusionSuccessful supplementation programmes require appropriately designed information, education and communication strategies. Designing such strategies requires pre-programme formative research to uncover barriers and facilitators for supplementation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown