A Study to evaluate the effectiveness of Planned Teaching Programme on knowledge regarding the Ill effects of plastics on health and environment among housewives in selected community at Aluva

 

Ms. Aneeta Antony, Ms. Ashly George, Ms. Jeemol Jose, Ms. Leenet Paul, Ms. Mariya P Babu, Ms. Sikha P S¹, Mrs. Lisha Paul², Sr. Naveena CMC³, Mrs. Anju Joseph^4*

¹Third Year BSc Nursing Students, Carmel College of Nursing, Aluva

²Asst. Professor of Community Health Nursing, Carmel College of Nursing, Aluva

³Lecturer of Community Health Nursing, Carmel College of Nursing, Aluva

⁴Lecturer of Community Health Nursing, Carmel College of Nursing, Aluva

 

ABSTRACT:

A study to assess the effect of structured teaching program on knowledge regarding the ill effects of plastics on health and environment among housewives in selected community at Aluva. The objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge regarding ill effects of plastics on health and environment among housewives in selected community at Aluva, to evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching program on knowledge regarding the ill effects of plastics on health and environment among housewives in selected community at Aluva, find out the association between pre test knowledge scores and selected demographic variables. The research design adopted for the study was one group pre test post test design. A sample of 30 adults of ward 16 of Keezhmadu Panchayath was selected by purposive sampling based on the inclusion criteria. After explaining the purpose of the study and obtaining their written consent, data were collected using knowledge questionnaire developed by the investigators. After conducting pre test, the investigators provided a structured teaching program and post test was conducted. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result of the study showed that 13.34% had poor knowledge, 76.6% had average knowledge, and 10% had good knowledge in pre test. In post test 96.6% had good knowledge, 3.34%had average knowledge. There was significant difference in the pre test and post test knowledge scores. The comparison value of ‘t’ is 14.74 is greater than the tabulated value 1.761. This shows that there is a significant difference in knowledge score before and after teaching program. The study concluded that majority of adults had an average knowledge regarding the ill effects of plastics. The structured teaching program was found to be effective as there was a significant difference between the mean pre test and post test scores. There was no significant relationship between the knowledge scores and any of the demographic variables.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

India generates 5.6 million metric tons of plastic waste annually. India is the fourth highest Asian importer of plastic waste behind Hongkong, Philippines, Indonesia. Average Indian uses one kilogram (kg) of plastics per year¹. Plastic can cause a wide variety of adverse effects on people and environment. Some of its compound can change the structure of the hormones. If plastic is disposed of by litter, the waste can clog the drains and allow mosquitoes breeding creating lot of health problems. When plastic is burned, it releases toxic chemicals. If disposed of by landfills there are many micro organisms which speed up the biodegradation of plastics. When biodegradable plastics are broken down, methane is released, which a very powerful green house gas that contributes significantly to global warning. Plastic shopping bags are dangerous because they are made of toxic materials. They are none-biodegradable so they do not rot & mix with soil. Even if they break into dust after a few decades, they produce toxic materials in the soil which makes the agricultural land unfertile and dangerous for crops²

 

OBJECTIVES:

1.      Assess the knowledge regarding ill effects of plastics on health and environment among        housewives in selected community at Aluva.

2.      Evaluate the effect of structured teaching program  on knowledge regarding the ill effects of plastics on health and environment among house wives in selected community at Aluva.

 

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

In this study, the research approach used is quantitative. The design used is one group pretest-post test research design. The study was conducted in the ward 16 of Keezhmadu Panchayath at Aluva . The population of the study includes housewives who are residing in Keezhmadu Panchayath. Using purposive sampling, 30 housewives were selected. A structured knowledge questionnaire consisting of twenty items was used to collect the data. After administering the pre test, a planned teaching program was administered with appropriate AV aids following which a post test was given.

 

FINDINGS:

Table 1 shows that 23.33% had primary education, 30% had high school, 23.33% had higher secondary education, 10% had diploma, 13.34% were having education at the graduate level and above, 90% were unemployed and 3.33%were were having a government job, private job and own business, about 6.66% subjects using dumping as a method for disposal of plastics, 13.33% subject using Landfill, 76.66% subjects using burning, 3.34% subjects using other methods for disposal of plastics.

 

Table1. Distribution of samples based on Education, occupation and methods of disposal of plastic wastes

Sl no:	Socio demographic variables	Frequency	Percentage
1	Education
	Primary	7	23.33
	High school	9	30
	Higher secondary	7	23.33
	Diploma	3	10
	Graduate and above	4	13.34
2	Occupation
	Cooli worker	0	0
	Own business	1	3.33
	Government	1	3.33
	Private	1	3.33
	Unemployed	27	90
3	Method of disposal of plastic wastes
	Dumping	2	6.66
	Landfill	4	13.33
	Burning	23	76.66
	Others	1	3.34

 

 

Table 2: Distribution of samples based on pre test and post test knowledge score.

Sl no:	Knowledge level	Frequency		Percentage
		Pre Test	Post test	Pre test	Post test
1	Poor (0-5)	4	0	13.34	0
2	Average (6-11)	23	1	76.6	3.34
3	Good (12-20)	3	29	10	96.6

 

 

Table 2 depicts that in the pre test, 13.34% of the samples were having poor knowledge, 76.6% had average knowledge and 10% had good knowledge. From the table, it is clear that, there was a significant improvement in the post test knowledge scores of the subjects belonging to the three categories.

 

 

Table 3: Comparison of knowledge scores before and after teaching program regarding ill effects of plastics among housewives through paired ‘t’ test.

*Significant at 0.05 level of significance

 

Table 3 shows that there is a significant difference in knowledge score before and after administering the teaching program.

 

DISCUSSION:

The findings of the study are supported by a study conducted by Jose J, Joseph J. etal. to evaluate the knowledge of adults about the hazards of plastics and its disposal among 100 adults of 20-45 years revealed that the mean pre-test knowledge score was 42.52% and the mean post-test knowledge score was 80.48%.³ The findings of the study revealed that the teaching program was highly effective in improving the knowledge of the adults regarding hazards of plastics and its disposal, with a significant difference of 37.96%.

 

CONCLUSION:

After conducting the study, the investigator reached at the conclusion that majority (76.6%) of housewives have average knowledge about ill effects of plastics. Health teaching program was found to be effective and they achieved good knowledge regarding ill effects of plastics after the teaching program.

 

REFERENCES:

1.       Hubballi R R. Preventing dengue fever among adults: Nightingale nursing times; May 2015; Volume 9(2): Page no:-21-23

2.       Subha N. Mother’s knowledge of care for children with dengue fever: Nightingale nursing times; February 2016; Volume 11(11): Page no: 30-32.

3.       Jose J, Joseph J et.al. An educational interventional program on hazards of plastic waste and its disposal among adults: a rural community based study. NITTE university journal of Health Sciences, 2015, Volume 5(2).

 

 

 

 

Received on 27.10.2017           Modified on 20.04.2018

Accepted on 20.06.2018     © A&V Publications all right reserved