Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Integrated Health Service for Child (Posyandu) Management in Palu City

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Posyandu is an integrated health service for the child, a form of community-based health effort managed from, for, and with the community. It is addressed to empower the community and provide convenience to the community in obtaining basic health services. AIM: This study aims to obtain an overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Posyandu management in Palu City, including the status of Posyandu development, Posyandu activities, Posyandu cadre activities, and Posyandu supervision practices by the Community Health Center (Puskesmas) during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: It used a mixed study method by combining two study methods conducted previously, namely, quantitative and qualitative. The study also carried out Posyandu observations and interviews with several informants. RESULTS: The results showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) Posyandu development status did not decrease, remained the same as before; (2) Posyandu activities were prioritized on toddler immunization. After 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Posyandu activities returned to normal; (3) Posyandu cadre activities included registration, weighing, recording, and counseling; (4) Posyandu supervision activities were focused on monitoring the growth and development of toddlers but could not run optimally due to the busyness of Community Health Center (Puskesmas) officers dealing with COVID-19; and (5) constraints: The unavailability of infrastructure for implementing health protocols in Posyandu and not accustomed to implementing health protocols. Challenges: The demands of the community using Posyandu so that the Posyandu applies standard health protocols, and the workload of Puskesmas officers was excessive (basic tasks and additional tasks for COVID-19). Efforts: Following the instructions of the Palu City Health Office to implement health protocols at the Posyandu according to standards. CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Posyandu ran normally, except for the first 3 months of the pandemic, when the service was interrupted because the Posyandu was closed. Posyandu management indicators included Posyandu status conditions (primary, middle, full-time, and independent strata), Posyandu main activities (monitoring growth and development of toddlers), cadre activities (registration, weighing, recording, and counseling), and supervision activities running as usual.