Interpersonal education by rural Yemeni women for promoting child survival and maternal health

A total of 805 volunteer women and men were recruited from 20 Yemeni villages in the governorates of Al Beida and Hajja. These volunteers were educated in basic health messages and instructed to disseminate the information to friends and neighbors in their villages. Evaluators subsequently visited four villages which had received the training as well as two which did not to determine whether the dissemination had actually occurred. Mothers contacted by their recently trained neighbors correctly responded to all knowledge and practice questions related to diarrhea control, oral rehydration therapy and breastfeeding, whereas mothers in control villages averaged 60% correct responses. The results of this quasi-experimental evaluation underscore the potential for interpersonal education for improving child survival and maternal health in countries such as Yemen. (Author abstract)