Abstract :
Introduction: Involvement of teachers is the first and most crucial step in developing health care strategy
for the adolescents, however there is paucity of literature in India.
Objective: To assess the effect of training on perception and knowledge of the school teachers towards
the common health problems among adolescents.
Material & methods: An intervention study was conducted in a private school of rural Bangalore in November
2015. A pre-tested open-ended questionnaire containing questions regarding the socio- demographic
profile of the teachers and common adolescent health problems was administered to the study subjects
before and after one-day workshop for the teachers. Training workshop included sessions on adolescent
health issues particularly mental health and life skills. Data was entered in MS-Excel and analyzed with
the help of SPSS version 21.
Results: A total of 75 teachers participated and their age was 31.07 years. 25 (33%) of them had obtained
education till B.Ed. Majority (60; 80%) of teachers were Hindu by religion. After the training perception of
the teachers about adolescent health problems improved significantly. 99% of teachers were able to recall
common adolescent mental issues particularly depression, anxiety and body image perception disorders
after the training. Knowledge scores of the teachers regarding the common adolescent problems for both
the genders increased significantly (p
Keyword :
Adolescence, School teachers, Common problems, Life skills