Helping health workers learn : a book of methods, aids, and ideas for instructors at the village level

Helping Health Workers Learn is an indispensable resource for all health educators. This heavily illustrated book shows how to make health education engaging and effective, while emphasizing a people-centered approach to care. It also presents strategies for effective community involvement through participatory education. Topics include: activities for mothers and children; tips for using theater, flannel-boards, and other techniques; strategies for producing low-cost teaching aids; and how to build on a community's traditions, experiences, and strengths. Helping Health Workers Learn -1 Front Matter 2 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 5 Copyright 2 Dedication 3 THANKS 4 CONTENTS 7 INTRODUCTION 8 WARNING 12 WHY THIS BOOK IS SO POLITICAL 14 PART ONE: APPROACHES AND PLANS 20 Chapter 1: Looking at Learning and Teaching 22 Chapter 2: Selecting Health Workers, Instructors, and Advisers 52 Chapter 3: Planning a Training Program 70 Chapter 4: Getti ng off to a Good Start 102 Chapter 5:Planninga Class 116 Chapter 6: Learning and Working with the Community 134 Chapter 7: Helping People Look at Their Customs and Beliefs 154 Chapter 8:Practicein AttendingtheSick 168 Chapter 9: Examinations and Eva!uation as a Learning Process 184 Chapter 10: Follow-up, Support, and Continued Learning 206 PART TWO: LEARNING THROUGH SEEING, DOING, AND THINKING 226 Chapter 11: Making and Using Teaching Aids 228 Chapter 12: Learning to Make, Take, and Use Pictures 260 Chapter 13: Story Telling 282 Chapter 14: Role Playing 296 Chapter 15: Appropriate and Inappropriate Technology 310 Chapter 16: Homemade, Low-Cost Equipment and Written Materials 328 Chapter 17: Solving Problems Step by Step (Scientific Method) 348 Chapter 18: Learning to Use Medicines Sensibly 362 Chapter 19: Aids for Learning to Use Medicines and Equipment 376 PART THREE: LEARNING TO USE THE BOOK, WHERE THERE IS NO DOCTOR 396 Chapter 20: Using the Contents, Index, Page References and Vocabulary 404 Chapter 21: Practice Using Guides, Charts, and Record Sheet 416 PART FOUR: ACTIVITIES WITH MOTHERS AND CHILDREN 436 Chapter 22: Pregnant Women, Mothers, and Young Children 438 Chapter 23: The Politics of Family Planning 458 Chapter 24: Children as Health Workers 468 PART FIVE: HEALTH IN RELATION TO FOOD, LAND, AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 500 Chapter 25: Food First 502 Chapter 26: Looking at How Human Relations Affect Health 546 Chapter 27: Ways to Get People Thinking and Acting: Village Theater and Puppet Shows 584 Back matter 624 A Call for Courage and Action 624 List of Addresses for Teaching Materials 626 Index 628 About Project Piaxtla and the authors 636 Other Books from the Hesperian Foundation 638 Abstract: This book helps instructors of village health workers teach these health workers to develop and implement health education programs for uneducated village populations. Teaching methods, teaching aids, medical instruction, and social conditions are discussed. An examination of the book "Where these is no doctor" and how to use it to assist villagers improve their health is conducted. Topics include: approaches and plans; learning through seeing, doing, and thinking; activities with mothers and children; and health in relation to food, land, and social problems This heavily illustrated book is an important resource for anyone involved in community health education. Methods and experiences from at least 35 countries are discussed, and the focus is educational rather than medical. Activities suggested for the most effective and enjoyable community education include theatre, drawing, flannel boards, and other low-cost, popular teaching aids. Helping Health Workers Learn provides a people-centred approach to health care and presents strategies for effective community involvement through participatory education.