%0 Journal Article
%T Ethiopian community health workers¡¯ beliefs and attitudes towards children with autism: Impact of a brief training intervention
%A Abebaw Fekadu
%A Basiro Davey
%A Bethlehem Tekola
%A Charlotte Hanlon
%A Dejene Tilahun
%A Ilona Roth
%A Mesfin Araya
%A Rosa A Hoekstra
%J Autism
%@ 1461-7005
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1362361317730298
%X There is a severe shortage of services for children with autism in Ethiopia; access to services is further impeded by negative beliefs and stigmatising attitudes towards affected children and their families. To increase access to services, care provision is decentralised through task-shifted care by community health extension workers. This study aimed to examine the impact of a brief training (Health Education and Training; HEAT) for Ethiopian rural health extension workers and comprised three groups: (1) health extension workers who completed a basic mental health training module (HEAT group, N£¿=£¿104); (2) health extension workers who received enhanced training, comprising basic HEAT as well as video-based training on developmental disorders and a mental health pocket guide (HEAT+ group, N£¿=£¿97); and (3) health extension workers untrained in mental health (N£¿=£¿108). All participants completed a questionnaire assessing beliefs and social distance towards children with autism. Both the HEAT and HEAT+ group showed fewer negative beliefs and decreased social distance towards children with autism compared to the untrained health extension worker group, with the HEAT+ group outperforming the HEAT group. However, HEAT+ trained health extension workers were less likely to have positive expectations about children with autism than untrained health extension workers. These findings have relevance for task-sharing and scale up of autism services in low-resource settings worldwide
%K attitude
%K autism spectrum disorder
%K community health workers
%K developing countries
%K developmental disabilities
%K Ethiopia
%K stigma
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361317730298