Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in Kenya

Routine growth monitoring (RGM) for 9 to 24-month-old children enables early detection of developmental problems for corrective interventions. Unfortunately, many caregivers cease active RGM activities once they exhaust the government-recommended vaccines. The study aimed to find out the effects of...

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Main Authors: Justus O. S. Osero, Edna N. Osano
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27707571.2025.2461181
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author Justus O. S. Osero
Edna N. Osano
author_facet Justus O. S. Osero
Edna N. Osano
author_sort Justus O. S. Osero
collection DOAJ
description Routine growth monitoring (RGM) for 9 to 24-month-old children enables early detection of developmental problems for corrective interventions. Unfortunately, many caregivers cease active RGM activities once they exhaust the government-recommended vaccines. The study aimed to find out the effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of RGM. The study was quasi-experimental in design. Caregivers in interventional arm 1, received health education (HE) messages sent via a Short Text Message (STM). Caregivers in interventional arm 2, received HE messages using Voice Calls (VC). Control arms received the usual care. Post-intervention results revealed that there was an increase in the number of respondents who knew the importance of RGM for their children. Post-intervention analysis showed that caregivers in intervention arms 1 and 2 were more presumably to know when their children should be taken for RGM (OR = 3.000; 95% CI: 2.098 – 4.29), what is done during RGM visits to a child welfare clinic, the benefits of RGM, and problems associated with failure to engage in RGM compared to those in the control arm and at the beginning of the study. Health education using mobile technologies improved caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring.
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spelling doaj-art-d07f1977afe64e6196e5d3736d5e877b2025-02-07T12:03:16ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Public Health2770-75712024-12-0111110.1080/27707571.2025.2461181Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in KenyaJustus O. S. Osero0Edna N. Osano1Department of Family Medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology, School of Health Sciences, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, KenyaDepartment of Nursing and Clinical Studies, School of Health Sciences, Mama Ngina University College, Gatundu, KenyaRoutine growth monitoring (RGM) for 9 to 24-month-old children enables early detection of developmental problems for corrective interventions. Unfortunately, many caregivers cease active RGM activities once they exhaust the government-recommended vaccines. The study aimed to find out the effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of RGM. The study was quasi-experimental in design. Caregivers in interventional arm 1, received health education (HE) messages sent via a Short Text Message (STM). Caregivers in interventional arm 2, received HE messages using Voice Calls (VC). Control arms received the usual care. Post-intervention results revealed that there was an increase in the number of respondents who knew the importance of RGM for their children. Post-intervention analysis showed that caregivers in intervention arms 1 and 2 were more presumably to know when their children should be taken for RGM (OR = 3.000; 95% CI: 2.098 – 4.29), what is done during RGM visits to a child welfare clinic, the benefits of RGM, and problems associated with failure to engage in RGM compared to those in the control arm and at the beginning of the study. Health education using mobile technologies improved caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27707571.2025.2461181Caregivers’ knowledgeRoutine growth monitoringHealth educationChild welfare clinicMobile technologiesAllied Health
spellingShingle Justus O. S. Osero
Edna N. Osano
Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in Kenya
Cogent Public Health
Caregivers’ knowledge
Routine growth monitoring
Health education
Child welfare clinic
Mobile technologies
Allied Health
title Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in Kenya
title_full Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in Kenya
title_fullStr Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in Kenya
title_short Effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers’ knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in Kenya
title_sort effects of health education using mobile technologies on caregivers knowledge of routine growth monitoring for children aged 9 to 24 months in kenya
topic Caregivers’ knowledge
Routine growth monitoring
Health education
Child welfare clinic
Mobile technologies
Allied Health
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/27707571.2025.2461181
work_keys_str_mv AT justusososero effectsofhealtheducationusingmobiletechnologiesoncaregiversknowledgeofroutinegrowthmonitoringforchildrenaged9to24monthsinkenya
AT ednanosano effectsofhealtheducationusingmobiletechnologiesoncaregiversknowledgeofroutinegrowthmonitoringforchildrenaged9to24monthsinkenya