A Study to Assess The Effectiveness of Planned Sensitization Program on Level of Knowledge Attitude and Perceived Practice Regarding HIV Aids and PLHIV Among Health Care Students of Selected Colleges in Chennai

Abstract

ABSTRACT newline newlineThis study focuses on the effectiveness of planned sensitization program on the level of knowledge, attitude and perceived practice regarding HIV/AIDS and People Living with HIV among health care students of selected Nursing and Dental colleges in Chennai. A quantitative study with an evaluative approach of randomized controlled trial design was used. The randomization was done by probability multistage cluster sampling technique. The estimated sample size was 600 with 300 subjects in each of the group. The target population for this study was the First year BDS and Basic B. Sc. Nursing students. The study was conducted in 6 Nursing and 4 Dental colleges in Chennai. The tools used in the study were demographic data which comprised of age, sex, level of education, place of education, breadwinners occupation, family income and the source of information on HIV/AIDS, the standardized HIV knowledge questionnaire with 30 questions, AIDS Attitude Assessment Scale [AAAS] and AIDS Perceived Practice Assessment Scale [APPAS]. After the pretest the planned sensitization program on HIV/AIDS and PLHIV was carried out for the study group with LCD (Liquid Cristal Display) assisted power point presentation, followed by group discussion. A strong positive correlation was found between knowledge, attitude and perceived practice in the study group during posttest I and II. The attitude and perceived practice had a significant association with age, gender and the completed educational status of the students. The findings of the study showed that there was a statistically significant improvement in the level of knowledge, attitude and perceived practice regarding HIV/ AIDS and PLHIV among health care students who attended the planned sensitization program. newline newline