Changes in social, belief, and behavioural practices are essential for the success of any public health delivery programme. In the planning stages of the Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project (MEDP), priority was given to communication with a goal to develop capacity of health workers and to improve the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of the people of Mandla. This paper describes the level of community knowledge on malaria, including its prevention, diagnosis, treatment-seeking behaviour, and the level of satisfaction with the services provided by the project. A cross sectional survey was undertaken in 1233 villages of Mandla to study the KAP and self-assessed improvement in knowledge and satisfaction level of the community. The goal of the study was to understand whether there is need for strengthening communication strategy of MEDP for better impact. The survey was conducted amongst the head/eligible members of the 733 households located in the nine blocks of the district using clustered random sampling. Though four-fifths of the respondents were able to correlate the transmission of malaria with mosquitoes, misconceptions existed among them. The types of malaria were not known to everyone. Only 39% were aware of the Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) and 41% understood the value of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN). Around 71% of subjects surveyed were aware of the proper diagnostic tests for malaria. A total of 87% of the respondents knew about the MEDP staff working in their respective villages. The study reported gaps in knowledge on malaria at community level. The self-assessment of the community revealed that the communication strategy established by MEDP in Mandla district has been useful to them as they are becoming better informed about the prevention and treatment aspects of disease. The lessons learned as revealed in the KAP survey will improve malaria elimination outcomes in a timely manner.

中文翻译：

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评估社区知识、态度和做法，以加强曼德拉消除疟疾示范项目的沟通策略

社会、信仰和行为习惯的改变对于任何公共卫生服务项目的成功都是必不可少的。在消除疟疾示范项目 (MEDP) 的规划阶段，优先考虑以发展卫生工作者的能力和提高曼德拉人民的知识、态度和做法 (KAP) 为目标的沟通。本文描述了社区对疟疾的了解水平，包括其预防、诊断、寻求治疗的行为以及对项目提供的服务的满意度。在 Mandla 的 1233 个村庄进行了横断面调查，以研究 KAP 以及社区知识和满意度水平的自我评估改进。该研究的目的是了解是否需要加强 MEDP 的传播策略以获得更好的影响。调查是使用整群随机抽样在位于该地区九个街区的 733 户住户的户主/合资格成员中进行的。尽管五分之四的受访者能够将疟疾的传播与蚊子联系起来，但他们之间存在误解。疟疾的种类并不为所有人所知。只有 39% 的人了解室内残留喷雾剂 (IRS)，41% 的人了解长效杀虫网 (LLIN) 的价值。大约 71% 的接受调查的对象知道正确的疟疾诊断测试。共有 87% 的受访者了解在各自村庄工作的 MEDP 员工。该研究报告了社区层面对疟疾知识的差距。社区的自我评估显示，MEDP 在曼德拉区制定的沟通策略对他们很有用，因为他们对疾病的预防和治疗方面有了更好的了解。KAP 调查中揭示的经验教训将及时改善消除疟疾的结果。