The Effectiveness of Training Programmes Conducted by Health Extension Workers in Disease Prevention Among Remote Village Women in Central Uganda: A Longitudinal Study

Health extension workers (HEWs) play a crucial role in disease prevention among remote communities in Uganda. A longitudinal study design with baseline, mid-term, and end-line assessments was employed to track changes in knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behaviors related to diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS among remote village women. HEW training significantly improved participants' understanding of disease prevention strategies (p < 0.05), leading to a 25% increase in the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and an 18% reduction in unprotected sexual encounters compared to baseline data. The HEW programmes were effective in enhancing women's knowledge and practices related to disease prevention, demonstrating their potential as scalable health interventions in rural settings. Further research should investigate the long-term sustainability of these training programmes and explore strategies for overcoming barriers to implementation. Treatment effect was estimated with logit(pᵢ)=β₀+β^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.