INTRODUCTION:

Children with visual impairment have to live with a lot of problems in their day-to-day life and they face difficulties in maintaining personal hygiene independently. Blind children are able to go to school but many live their lives entirely dependent on other people’s charity. They should be taught the importance of hygiene as early as possible.

Hence, they can be taught regarding personal hygiene like dental care, eye care, hand care and skin care.¹

A novel approach to teaching skills in the blind is audio-based Environment Simulator (audio drama). Early blind users were able to acquire relevant information regarding the spatial layout of a previously unfamiliar building using audio-based cues alone. This was confirmed by a series of behavioural performance tests designed to assess the acquired spatial information. Furthermore, learning the spatial layout through a goal directed gaming strategy allowed for the mental manipulation of spatial information as evidenced by enhanced navigation performance when compared to an explicit route learning strategy. So the immersive and highly interactive nature of the software greatly engages the blind user to actively explore the virtual environment.² A visually impaired child will function more efficiently when they had more auditory experience. Through audio drama, children will be more responsible for the personal hygiene of themselves.³

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The present study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of audio drama on knowledge and practice regarding personal hygiene among visually impaired children of selected blind school, Ernakulam district. Quasi experimental one group pre-test post-test design was adopted for the present study in order to determine the effectiveness of audio drama on knowledge and practice regarding personal hygiene. The pre-test was carried out by assessing the knowledge and practice of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene. The post-test was aimed at the assessment of the same parameters after the administration of audio drama regarding personal hygiene.

The study was conducted in the Kerala Blind School Society, Aluva. The school consists of 10 classes which include almost 70 students, out of which 30 samples are selected by purposive sampling. In this study, the researcher used a structured knowledge questionnaire, rating scale and audio drama regarding personal hygiene which was prepared based on the literature review and expert opinion. Demographic proforma of visually impaired children consists of 6 items such as age, sex, educational status of parents, religion, type of family. Structured interview is used to assess the knowledge and practice of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene through structured questionnaire. It consists of 30 multiple choice questions organized under different section like personal hygiene, hair care, oral care, skin care and foot care that had four options with one correct answer with a score of one. The response of the visually impaired children are represented in a five point rating scale. It consists of 20 items. The positive statements (18 statements) are scored from 5 to 1 for always, often, sometimes, never, not applicable and negative statements (2 statements) are scored from 1 to 5 for the same.

Audio drama on personal hygiene describes a class room scenario where a teacher taught lessons on personal hygiene. The duration of the drama was 7 minutes and it includes 12 characters. The tool was first prepared in English and re-translated to Malayalam and re-validated by language experts to check the language consistency of the tool. Content validity was established by giving it to seven experts in the subject field. The reliability of the present tool was assessed by split half method and the reliability coefficient and was estimated by using Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient and it was found to be highly reliable. The study was conducted after obtaining formal consent from the school authorities and parents of visually impaired children.

RESULTS:

The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Section 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of visually impaired children according to demographic variables

The major findings of the demographic data showed that among 30 visually impaired children, 18(60%) were 10-12 years of age. Females were the predominant category (60%). Data regarding the educational status of the parents revealed that 13(44%) fathers had secondary education and 14(46%) mothers had secondary education. Considering the religion, 13(43%) were Hindus and 12(40%) were Christians and the rest were Muslims. The demographic data of children revealed that highest percentage 60% of them belonged joint family and the rest 40% belonged nuclear family.

Section 2: Assessment of the level of knowledge of visually impaired children on personal hygiene.

A structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge level of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene. The overall level of knowledge regarding personal hygiene showed that only one (3%) sample had adequate knowledge and 20(67%) had moderately adequate knowledge level in the pre-test. Where as in post-test majority of sample 24(80%) gained adequate knowledge and none of them had inadequate knowledge.

When assessing the knowledge regarding oral care, skin care, foot care and hair care, 11(37%), 14 (47%), 16(53 %) and 15 (50%) children had inadequate knowledge in the pre-test respectively. But in the post-test none of them had inadequate knowledge except hair care knowledge.

Section 3: Assessment of the level of practice of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene.

A rating scale was used to assess the practice level of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene. The overall level of practice in the pre-test showed that majority of sample 21(70%) had moderately satisfactory level of practice and 9(30%) had satisfactory level of practice regarding personal hygiene. In the post-test majority of sample 19(63%) had satisfactory level of practice and only 11(37%) had moderately satisfactory level of practice regarding personal hygiene. None of them had unsatisfactory level of practice both in pre-test and post-test practice score regarding personal hygiene.

Section 4: Effectiveness of Audio drama on knowledge of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene.

To find the significant difference between pre-test and post-test knowledge score of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene, paired ‘t’ test was used. The paired ‘t’ value of knowledge on personal hygiene (‘t’ = 10.08, p ≤ 0.05) was higher than the table value (‘t 29’ = 2.05) at p ≤ 0.05 level and the test was significant. Hence the research hypothesis (H 01) was accepted that the audio drama was effective in improving the knowledge level of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene

Section 5. Effectiveness of audio drama on practice of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene.

To find the significant difference between pre-test and post-test practice score of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene, paired ‘t’ test was used. The computed paired ‘t’ value of practice score on personal hygiene (‘t’ = 11.29) was higher than the table value (‘t 29’ = 2.05). Hence the test was significant at the p ≤ 0.05 level and the research hypothesis (H02) was accepted. that the audio drama was effective in improving the practice level of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene including each areas.

Section 6: Association of pre-test knowledge and practice score with selected demographic variables.

Chi square was used to find the association of pre-test knowledge and practice score regarding personal hygiene with selected demographic variables of visually impaired children. The statistical analysis showed that there was no association between the selected demographic variables of visually impaired children and knowledge score as well as with the practice score regarding personal hygiene.

DISCUSSION:

A study conducted to find the effectiveness of audio teaching programme on reproductive health among 70 visually challenged women at Madurai also showed that the knowledge and attitude of visually challenged women on reproductive health were significantly improved after audio teaching programme.⁴

The findings of the present study was supported by a study conducted to develop oral health education technique and compare the plaque scores before and after the health education of visually impaired children. This study concludes that the knowledge and practice of visually impaired children on oral hygiene were increased after the health education.⁵

The present study showed that the audio drama was effective in improving the practice level of visually impaired children regarding personal hygiene as the findings revealed that the computed paired ‘t’ value (11.29) was higher than the table value (‘t 29’ =2.05). The present study findings was supported by the findings of a study conducted by Nisha. S to assess the effectiveness of Audio drama in lifestyle modifications and its related outcomes among 30 visually impaired children in selected schools at Coimbatore district. The study concludes that after intervention, the knowledge and practice on respiratory infection and dental caries were increased which shows the effectiveness of Audio drama among visually impaired children in improving their knowledge and practice and consistent with the present study.⁶

The findings of the present study represented that there was no association of the selected demographic variables of visually impaired children with knowledge and practice regarding personal hygiene. The findings of the study was contradicting with study conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of puppet show on knowledge regarding personal hygiene among primary school children, Bangalore. It showed that the gender, parent education and the income had no association with the pre-test knowledge score on personal hygiene, whereas the demographic variables like religion, age and type of family had association with the pre-test knowledge score of school children.⁷

CONCLUSION:

People with visual impairment are at an increased risk of developing hygienic disorders because of greater difficulty in maintaining personal hygiene. People with low vision cannot detect and recognize early signs of hygienic disease and because of this they may not be able to take the necessary action to prevent or treat a particular condition. Audio drama is one of the suitable method to be used as a medium of education for visually impaired children. It can be used to build knowledge, develop skills and change attitudes. From the present study it was concluded that visually impaired children are at a greater risk of developing hygienic disorders due to lack of knowledge and audio drama is very effective in improving the knowledge and practice of visually impaired children.

REFERENCE:

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2. Connors EC, Yazzolino LA, Sánchez J, Merabet LB. Development of an audio-based virtual gaming environment to assist with navigation skills in the blind. J Vis Exp[internet]. 2013 Mar 27;(73). Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc /articles/ PMC3641639

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Received on 24.06.2021 Modified on 28.12.2021

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2022; 10(2):127-130.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2022.00029