INTRODUCTION:

Look to your health and if you have it, praise God and value it next to conscience: for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of, a blessing money can’t buy “

Izaak Walton (1593-1683)

Any child that has lost one parent is an orphan. Orphanage is the name to describe a residential institution devoted to the care and education of orphans.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. Health problem is a condition in which body health is impaired. The healthiest living condition for a child is obviously with a family who will love and nurture as well as providing food, shelter and clothing that will ensure this child’s survival. Many of these children suffer from physical neglect, poor hygiene and a lack of a nurturing environment is all too common even in today’s more modern orphanages. The main health problem encountered in the child population comprises Headlice Infestation, Scabies, Typhoid Fever, Worm Infestation, Iron Deficiency Anemia and Hepatitis A. This all occurs due to lack of knowledge regarding personal hygiene and other sanitization practices.²

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

UNICEF (2017) stated that an orphan is a child who has lost one or both parents. The official estimate is 145 million estimated orphans worldwide, approximately 15 million are double orphans, 92 million that have a surviving mother and another 38 million have a surviving father.³

Indian Market Research Bureau (2016) found that in India, a total of 23 per cent of all urban households in the age group of 6-15 suffered from lice and 93 per cent of them were female. Bulletin of world health organization (2009) showed that virtually all children aged less than 6 years developed scabies within a period of 12 months. WHO Weekly epidemiological record (2008) reported that Typhoid fever remains a serious public health problem throughout the world, with an estimated 16–33 million cases and 500, 000 to 600, 000 deaths annually. Ananthakrishnan R. and Das P. K. (2001) stated that globally, over 3.5 billion people are infected with intestinal worms, of which, 1.15 billion are with roundworm, 1.3 billion with hookworm and 1.05 billion with whip worm. Global epidemiology of hepatitis A (2008) reported that Hepatitis A occurs worldwide; it is estimated that around 1.5 million cases of clinical hepatitis A occur per year. Dr. Abdullah al-Terkawi, et. al (2015) was conducted a study which found that 12 percent of orphans were anemic.⁴

Health education can help to increase knowledge and to reinforce desired behavior patterns among the children. Children take back these health instructions they receive and even more important, when they become adults they apply this knowledge in their own families.⁵

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To assess the pretest knowledge scores regarding selected health problems among orphan children.

2. To evaluate the effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Selected Health Problems in terms of Knowledge among Orphan Children.

3. To find association between prettestKnowledge regarding selected health problems among orphan children with their selected demographic variables.

4. To correlate posttest Knowledge regarding selected health problems among orphan children.

HYPOTHESES:

H₁: The mean posttest Knowledge will be significantly higher than the mean pretest scores regarding selected health problems.

H₂: There will be significant association between the PosttestKnowledge with their selected Demographic variables.

H₃: There will be significant Correlation between posttest Knowledge regarding selected health problems.

METHODOLOGY:

Research Approach:

Quantitative Research Approach.

Research Design:

Pre-Experimental One Group Pre-Test and Post Test Design.

Setting of the Study:

Selected Orphanage at Tumkur.

Sample Size:

60.

Sample Technique:

Random Sampling.

Population:

Target:

Orphan Children of Selected Orphanage Home at Tumkur.

Accessible:

Orphan Children of NeleDwarka Orphanage Home at Tumkur.

Tools for Data Collection:

1. Demographic Data Sheet

2. Self Administered Questionnaire.

3. Structured Interview

Duration of the Study:

7 Days.

Research Variables:

Dependent variables:

Knowledge.

Independent Variables:

Structured Teaching Progamme and Demographic Variables.

Statistical Analysis:

Descriptive Statistical Method and Inferential Statistical methods are used.

RESULTS:

Demographic Variables:

Age, Sex, Education, Religion, Previous Health Problems, Duration of Stay In Orphanage Home, Source of Information,

Study Findings:

Age: 30(50%) out of the total were in the age-group of 13 years.

Sex: 49(81.7%) out of the total were Boys.

Education: 28(46.7%) out of the total were in 7^th std.

Religion: 38 (63.3%) out of the total were Hindu.

Health Problems: 48(80%) had previous health problems.

Duration: 39(65%) had been staying in the orphanage for more than 1 year.

Source of Information: 36(60%) information was collected fro the Mass Media.

Effectiveness:

From the mean score it was clear that the orphan children had gained knowledge after the administration of the intervention.

Association:

Chi-square values showed that the demographic variable age and sex were significant remaining were Non-significant

Correlation:

it shows that there is significant positive correlation between knowledge % variables.

CONCLUSION:

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on selected health problems in terms of knowledge among orphan children in selected orphanage home at Tumkur. The study findings revealed that there was a significant improvement in the knowledge among orphan children by Structured Teaching Programme based on statistical findings. It has motivated the children to practice the acquired knowledge for a better well being.

REFERENCES:

1. Seattle Wa Presented at AIDS 2012 the XIX International AIDS conference Washington DC USA, July 22-27

2. Anantha Krishnan S and Das PK Integrated programme for control of geohelminths A perspective Natl Med J India 2001:14: 148-53

3. Murray Thomas et.al. (2009) Epidemology and management of infectious disese in international adoptees Clin Microbial Rev, Volume 18, Issue 3 2005 pp 510-520

4. Fernando Korkeset.al Intestinal Parasitoss on environmental factors in rural population of Brazil 2002-2003 Rev Inst Med Trop Sau Paulo 2007 Vol 49 pg 251-55

5. BP Gupta and S Goel Intestinal parasitic Infestation in Healthy school of Lalitpur Distric 2001;41:266-270

Received on 30.09.2020 Modified on 07.11.2020

Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2021; 11(1):92-94.

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2996.2021.00024.0