Effect of a Health Education Program on Empowering Rural Mothers in Preventing Home Accidents of Children Under Five

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a health education program on empowering mothers to prevent home accidents among rural children under five years old in Ilam County. Materials & Methods: This research was a randomized controlled trial involving ۸۸ mothers with children under five years old attending healthcare houses in Ilam County in ۲۰۲۲-۲۰۲۳ who were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. A one-month online educational intervention was implemented for the intervention group using the WhatsApp application, while the control group received no education. Data were collected using a questionnaire assessing the constructs of the health belief model regarding home accidents in children, completed online by the participants at baseline and three months later. Data were analyzed using SPSS ۱۶ software, employing an independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test. Findings: No significant difference was found between the two groups in the mean scores of the health belief model constructs regarding preventing home accidents in the pre-test phase (p>۰.۰۵). The results of the independent sample t-test showed a significant increase in the mean scores of health belief model constructs in the intervention group compared to the control group after a three-month follow-up (p<۰.۰۵). Conclusion: Designing interventions based on the health belief model effectively empowers mothers to prevent accidents in rural children under five years old.

کلیدواژه ها:

Adult Children ، Mothers ، Empowerment ، Accidents ، Home ، Health Belief Model ، Health Education