Effectiveness of the SIMPOL Web-Based Educational Intervention for Village Midwives in Improving Polio Immunization Coverage: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Introduction: Polio is a disease caused by the enterovirus (poliovirus) that attacks the brain's nervous system, causing paralysis in children. Although Indonesia has been a polio-free country since 2014, vigilance against the re-emergence of polio virus cases must still be increased by increasing polio immunization coverage. The use of website-based SIMPOL (Polio Immunization Education) media is one of the best alternatives for village midwives in delivering counseling. This greatly assists the government's program in increasing polio immunization coverage. Website-based media has the ability to disseminate information quickly, practically, and easily accessed, making it easier for village midwives to deliver counseling. Thus, the website-based counseling process is believed to increase public awareness to immunize their children. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the SIMPOL Web-Based Educational Intervention for Village Midwives in Improving Polio Immunization Coverage.

Material and Methods: This study employs a quasi-experimental design with a one-group pretest-posttest approach.

Results: The mean village-level complete polio immunization coverage increased from 31.05% at baseline to 70.82% following implementation of the SIMPOL web-based educational intervention. This represented a statistically significant increase of 39.78 percentage points (95% CI: 37.58–41.97; t(23) = 37.44, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The SIMPOL web-based educational intervention was associated with a significant improvement in complete polio immunization coverage. Integrating SIMPOL into routine health education delivered by village midwives may strengthen polio immunization programs in primary healthcare settings.