Introduction: In Indonesia, most training modules for health paraprofessionals
have been adapted from existing foreign modules without assessment. In addition,
there have been few studies on training development for this group. We aimed to
develop, using a systematic tool, implement and evaluate a training module to
improve the competencies of voluntary health workers (cadres) in communicating
safe complementary feeding practice to caregivers of young children in Indonesia.
Methods: A mixed methods approach was used. A qualitative study employing
in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, mini-workshops, documentary
reviews and expert validation was used to develop the training module, following a
systematic approach. The module’s effectiveness for improving the health workers’
competencies was evaluated using a quantitative study with a non-equivalent
pre-test and post-test control group design that included 70 (intervention group)
and 68 (comparison group) voluntary health workers from a peri-urban district.
Changes in the workers’ cognitive, affective and psychomotor competencies were
tested before and after attending a 3-day training module (intervention group) or
a half-day event (comparison group). Results: A 24-hour learning session module
on communicating safe complementary feeding was developed and used to train
voluntary health workers. After the training, a significantly higher proportion of
workers in the intervention group than in the comparison group were assessed as
competent in the psychomotor and composite domains (psychomotor: 67.1% vs.
20.6%; composite: 74.3% vs. 36.8%; p
Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a widely used material for transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films due to its good optical and electrical properties. Improving the optoelectronic properties of ITO films with reduced thickness is crucial and quite challenging. ITO-based multilayer films with an aluminium-silver (Al-Ag) interlayer (ITO/Al-Ag/ITO) and a pure ITO layer (as reference) were prepared by RF and DC sputtering. The microstructural, optical and electrical properties of the ITO/Al-Ag/ITO (IAAI) films were investigated before and after annealing at 400 °C. X-ray diffraction measurements show that the insertion of the Al-Ag intermediate bilayer led to the crystallization of an Ag interlayer even at the as-deposited stage. Peaks attributed to ITO(222), Ag(111) and Al(200) were observed after annealing, indicating an enhancement in crystallinity of the multilayer films. The annealed IAAI film exhibited a remarkable improvement in optical transmittance (86.1%) with a very low sheet resistance of 2.93 Ω/sq. The carrier concentration increased more than twice when the Al-Ag layer was inserted between the ITO layers. The figure of merit of the IAAI multilayer contact has been found to be high at 76.4 × 10-3 Ω-1 compared to a pure ITO contact (69.4 × 10-3 Ω-1). These highly conductive and transparent ITO films with Al-Ag interlayer can be a promising contact for low-resistance optoelectronics devices.