The effects of educational program on health volunteers’ knowledge regarding their approach to earthquake in health centers in Tehran

Introduction: The people’s mental, intellectual and physical nonreadinessto confront earthquake may result in disastrous outcomes.This research aimed to study of effects of a training interventionon health connector’s knowledge regarding their approach toearthquake in health-training centers in East of Tehran.Methods: This research which is a semi-experimental study wasdesigned and executed in 2011, using a questionnaire with itemsbased on the information of Crisis Management Org. After apilot study and making the questionnaire valid and reliable,we determined the sample size. Then, the questionnaires werecompleted before and after the training program by 82 healthconnectors at health-treatment centers in the East of Tehran.Finally, the collected data were analyzed by SPSS 14, using pairedsample t–test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient.Results: Health connectors were women with the mean age of43.43±8.51 years. In this research, the mean score of connectors’knowledge before and after the training was 35.15±4.3 and43.73±2.91 out of 48, respectively. The difference was statisticallysignificant (p=0.001). The classes were the most important sourceof information for the health connectors.Conclusion: The people’s knowledge to confront earthquake canbe increased by holding training courses and workshops. Suchtraining courses and workshops have an important role in datatransfer and readiness of health connectors.Keywords: Health; Education; Earthquake