Communication Activities of Buguias Rural Health Unit in Delivering Maternal and Child Care Services

Abstract

The study focused on the Communication Activities of Buguias Rural Health Unit in delivering Maternal and Child Care Services. The study was conducted to determine the socio demographic profile of the respondents, describe the maternal and child care being implemented by the Rural Health Unit, determine the communication activities in delivering these health programs, the level of effectiveness on the communication activities used by the RHu as perceived by the respondents, the challenges encountered in the communication activities and the suggestions of the respondents for the improvement of the communication activities. The study was conducted from March to April 2016. The respondents of the study were 50 community people selected by means of accidental sampling and eight key informants. The data were gathered through survey questionnaire to the community respondents and interview for the key informants. Furthermore, the data gathered were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted through descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentage and weighted mean. The results were discussed through narrative form. Majority of the respondents belong to 28 to 32 years of age, 20 are married and 38 graduated from high school. The key informants, three were married, all of them had a formal education and their ages vary from 24 to 50. Pre-natal care, post-natal care, sustainable essential intrapartum and newborn care initiatives, under five malnutrition, fully immunized child, sustainable breastfeeding and family planning are the programs under the maternal and child care that are being implemented by the Rural Health Unit. Purok class, training/seminar, home visit, IEC and bulletin (notice posting) are the communication activities being used in delivering these health programs. Interpersonal Communication (purok class, training, seminar, home visit) were the common communication activities used by the RHU as perceived effective by the respondents and the RHU personnel. No proper information dissemination and busy from farm works are the common problems of the respondents. Delayed funds by the Local Government Unit, lack of materials and poor cooperation were the top three common problems encountered by the RHU personnel in delivering the maternal and child care services. The study recommends that to maintain the awareness of the respondents, RHU personnel may conduct more trainings and seminars about different and new topic of the health programs for the respondents to be updated. The RHU personnel with the BHW staff may produce IEC materials that refer to a public health approach aiming at changing or reinforcing health-related behaviors in a target audience, concerning a specific problem and within a pre-defined period of time. Furthermore, in the implementation of the health programs midwife and RHU personnel may motivate other residences to attend and learn more about the health programs being implemented through the use of other communication strategies. Also, the RHU may also present their programs to the Local Government Unit through one-on-one communication for them to see the benefit of the program for the community people and for easy funding and to be able to provide the needs of the people.