The Influence of Family Health Workers' Activities on Health Program Performance -Evaluative Research in the The Kang Wha Community Health Demonstration Project-

마을단위 보건요원의 활동이 사업 성과에 미치는 영향 -강화지역사회 보건시범사업지역에서-

  • Seo, Kyung (Yonsei University College of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine)
  • 서경 (연세의대 예방의학교실)
  • Published : 1978.10.01

Abstract

This study was designed to analyse effects of Family Health Workers' activities on the performance of a child immunization program as part of the evaluative research in the community health demonstration project in Kang Wha. Frequent shortcomings of evaluative research are problems in setting evaluative indices, difficulties in interpreting influences of socioeconomic changes due to lack of control and failure of demonstrating association between activity input and program performance. Specific objectives of this study was to improve the frequent shortcoming of evaluative research by isolating the effects of Family Health Workers' activities on the performance of the program through controlling other variables which also influenced the program performance. The target population consisted of 1240 children who were born between Jan. 1971 and Dec. 1975 in Sunwon Myun, and Naega Myun in Kwang Wha Gun, Kyonggi Province. The data were collected in part through 20 Family Health Workers who interviewed the mothers of these children in their villages during Nov. 1977. Part of the data were obtained by summarizing Family Health Workers daily activity records. All data were grouped for each birth cohort according to the 20 villages. Dependent variable of the model is the measle immuinization rate of each village and the independent variables are characteristics of baby, mother, household, travel time to the health subcenter, to Kang Wha Town, and the mean member of visits to the household by Family Health Workers as well as their other related activities and the year of birth of children according to village. The model was analysed by stepwise multiple regression technique. The summarized results show that overall $R^2$ were 39.3% and mean number of Family Health Worker household visits, mean age of mother and mean economic status were significant variables in explaining the immunization rate. Therefore Family Health Workers' activities are one of the significant variables in influencing the increased immunization rate of children in villages of the project area.

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