Refresher Training for capacity building of Anganwadi Workers in India

What is it about?

High and persistent child malnutrition levels with tardy reduction, seen in successive health surveys, continue to be a matter of concern in India, drawing attention to the need to revamp the fourdecade-old Government program, Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). ICDS field functionaries or Anganwadi Workers’ (AWWs) capacity deficit was identified as a significant factor affecting ICDS’s effectiveness. Considering rising numbers, over 1.4 million AWWs, and continuously advancing knowledge of community healthcare, conventional training pedagogy is ineffective in building and updating AWWs and their supervisors’ capacity, which calls for rethinking, using the ICT approach. Over 6 lakh AWWs in India were smartphone equipped by 2020. An android based quiz app was designed, following AWWs training modules’ content and need assessment results. The study investigates the quiz app’s effectiveness and compares it with conventional classroom instruction, with a group of AWWs, and discusses ways to make it an adequate substitute.

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Why is it important?

Our study shows the effectiveness of using a quiz platform on an android phone for training Community Healthcare Workers or Anganwadi Workers in India