Effectiveness of an Indonesian model for rapid training of Guatemalan health workers in diarrhea case management.

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a newly developed method for rapid tiered training of health workers in improving community health worker knowledge and case management skills. The interactive "Kader" method, developed in West Java, Indonesia, was compared with traditional didactic training in a prospective trial with rural health workers ("Tecnicos") and village health promoters ("Promotores") for the Public Health Department in the state of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Twenty-five tecnicos received one day of training concerning diarrhea and dehydration. One group was trained using the interactive Kader method of Indonesia; the other with didactic methods. A sample of these tecnicos then trained 49 randomized promotores utilizing the same training method with which they were trained. The tecnicos and promotores in each group completed a case-based pre-test and post-test before and after their training sessions. Both tecnicos and promotores trained using the Kader tiered training approach demonstrated significantly greater improvement in their ability to correctly diagnose and recommend treatment for diarrhea of varying type and severity. Non-significant differences favoring the experimental groups were found in the tecnicos' and promotores' general knowledge regarding diarrhea prevention practices, signs of dehydration and preparation of oral rehydration solution. This pilot study suggests that the Kader method for rapid tiered training of health workers has applicability to the populations of other developing nations and can be recommended for large scale implementation and evaluation in the training of public health workers, village health promoters and families in Guatemala.