Health Education by Buddhist Monks to Promote Malaria Knowledge and Preventive Practices in Rural Myanmar

Myanmar Health Network Organization

Status: Completed

Conditions: Myanmar; Monastery-based; Malaria; Preventive Practice; Buddhist Monks; Health Education

Treatments: Behavioral: Monastery-based health education by Buddhist monks

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06386367

MHNO-001

Details and patient eligibility

About

Malaria is still a leading public health concern in Myanmar. However, people living in rural areas usually showed poor prevention practice despite residing in malaria hotspots. The majority in Myanmar are Buddhists who frequently visit the monastery and receive the speech delivered by the monks. In a malaria high burden township of the Sagaing Region from northern Myanmar, current study will first explore the difference in malaria preventive practices among people residing in different malaria-endemic villages through a mixed-methods approach. Next, this research will address the knowledge gaps by a monastery-based health education delivered by trained Buddhist monks using standardized health messages instruction for six consecutive months between August 2022 to January 2023. To test whether the intervention could balance those gaps among different groups, quantitative data of baseline, 3-month, and 6-month will be compared using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, T-test or repeated ANOVA, and the Difference-In-Differences (DID) analysis, as applicable.

Enrollment: 501 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 60 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

For educational intervention; - voluntary participation

For questionnaire surveys;

• male or female household leaders or immediate family members
• aged >18 years who had resided in the study villages for more than one year

Exclusion criteria

For questionnaire surveys;

• Individuals who were unable to communicate effectively or were under the influence of narcotics, including alcohol

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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501 participants in 2 patient groups

Monastery-based health education intervention

Experimental group

Description:

The education sessions were conducted in Burmese by trained monks. They followed the normal teachings of the Buddhist doctrine and typically lasted 30-40 minutes. Our research utilized Burmese as the medium for delivering health messages, and all accompanying materials were meticulously prepared in Burmese. The study team observed at least one to two education sessions in each study village.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Monastery-based health education by Buddhist monks

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in the control group just received routine malaria control services such as diagnostic, treatment and bed net distribution.