A cross-sectional assessment of knowledge of ASHA workers

Background: the government of india launched the national rural health mission on 5th april 2005. a new band of community based functionaries,named as accredited social health activist (asha) was proposed to escort and transport the client to reach the hospital and provide referral services in case of complications. a time to time assessment of the knowledge of ashas is essential as the success of government's health programmes in rural areas depends on them and hence the present study was undertaken. material and methods: this cross sectional study was conducted in the barai block rural area of gwalior district and 88 ashas were included in the study as per the eligibility criteria. results: 88.6% & 85.2% of ashas responded for abdominal pain & bleeding respectively as complications during pregnancy and 88.6% and 85.20% ashas responded for obstructed labor and excessive bleeding as complications during delivery.73.8% ashas responded for antenatal care counseling followed by family planning (70.4%). conclusion: there is a need to revise and update the knowledge of asha workers from time to time. on the job trainings of the ashas should be in process to develop necessary knowledge and skills with recent updates. the block level meetings should be utilized for the feedback,enhancing knowledge & solving the problem faced by the ashas. © journal of krishna institute of medical sciences university.