School-based Health Programs on Children's Wellbeing in Lusaka, Zambia

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)614 enrolled

Overview

This study evaluates the impact of a new and comprehensive school-based health program implemented in Lusaka, Zambia.

While school-aged children in low- and middle-income countries remain highly exposed to acute infections, programs targeting this age group remain limited in scale and scope. In this study, we evaluate the impact of a new and comprehensive primary school-based health intervention program on student health outcomes and academic performance in Lusaka, Zambia. The intervention involved the training of teachers to become school health workers and the provision of vitamin A supplementation and deworming medication on a bi-annual basis. Teachers in intervention schools were trained to deliver health lessons and to refer sick students to care. This study is designed as a prospective matched control study. Students from the seven intervention schools are matched with students from control schools.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

614

Conditions

Acute Disease Morbidity

Interventions

School Health Worker ProgramBEHAVIORAL

The intervention trains selected teachers to deliver health lessons to students, perform basic first aid, recognize common illnesses, refer student to skilled medical attention when needed. The intervention provides schools with basic medical supplies including pain relief medication, thermometers, bandages, antiseptics, and oral rehydration solution. Vitamin A supplementation and presumptive deworming medication are administered to students during biannual health screenings.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Children attending one of the 14 schools in the study. Exclusion Criteria: * Children not attending one of the 14 schools in the study.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in prevalence of acute disease

Students report on the presence of 14 systemic, genitourinary, respiratory, and gastrointestinal illnesses in the past two week. Acute illnesses are combined into a summary index of morbidity.