A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF ANGANWADI WORKERS REGARDING SERVICES PROVIDED UNDER INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICE SCHEME IN RATLAM CITY

Objective: Anganwadi workers are the group of community health who are an integral part of the Integrated Childhood Development Services scheme throughout India. Apart from playing a crucial role in promoting children’s and adolescent's growth and development and, they have been continuously getting involved in Govt. programs. So it is very important to assess their knowledge and attitude about services provided under the ICDS scheme and also about recent changes in the program. To assess knowledge and attitude of Anganwadi workers for services provided under the ICDS scheme. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among AWWs. The sample of 91 anganwadi workers of Ratlam city was selected through simple random sampling in equal proportion from sector 1 and sector 2 in Ratlam. We assessed their knowledge and attitude regarding ICDS services using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Anganwadi workers of Ratlam city has best knowledge about Supplementary nutrition services provided under ICDS while least knowledge about immunisation services. Anganwadi workers with more experience, high education standards, and recent training on the ICDS module outperformed their peers. AWWS, with recent training on the ICDS module, had significantly better knowledge about ICDS services than their counterparts (P Value-0.004). Conclusion: The findings of the study reinforce the need for proper training with interactive sessions, which will enhance the knowledge and skills of AWW, for quality provision of services.