Tuesday, 12 July 2022, the Faculty of Public Health (FPH, Universitas Indonesia (UI) held an open doctoral promotion session on behalf of Anita Rahmiwati. The session was chaired by Prof. Dr. dr. Ratna Djuwita, M.P.H., as head of the assembly, Prof. Dr. dr. Kusharisupeni Djokosujono, M.Sc., as a promoter, and Dr. Ir. Diah Mulyawati Utari, M. Kes., and Dr. drs. Tri Krianto, M.Kes., as Co-Promoter. The testing team consisted of Dr. Ir. Asih Setiarini, M.Sc.; Dr. Besral, S.K.M., M.Sc.; Dr. Ir. Cecilia Meti Dwiriani, M.Sc .; Dr. Nana Mulyana, S.K.M., M.Kes.; and Dr. Dadang Hikmah Purnama, M.Hum. At this open session, Anita defended her dissertation, “Local Culture-Based Nutrition Education Intervention on Compliance with Consumption of Blood Supplementary Tablets for Young Women in Ogan Komering Ilir District.”
The trial was held online through the Zoom Meeting platform. It was attended by several guests such as Prof. Dr. Anis Saggaff, M.S.C.E., I.P.U., Chancellor of Sriwijaya University (Unsri), and the Deputy Chancellors, Dr. Misnaniarti, S.K.M., M.K.M., Dean of FPH Sriwijaya University along with Deputy Deans of FPH Sriwijaya University, heads of study programs and several teaching staff of FKM Sriwijaya University. The promotion session was also attended by government officials of the Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) District, namely the Regent represented by Assistant 3 and several Service Heads such as the Health Office, the Population Control and Family Planning Service, the Head of Kesga Kesga Health Office OKI and several school principals and teacher educators at various high schools which is the object of research. Also present were the Head of the SMA Sector from the South Sumatra Provincial Education Office and the Head of Kesga Kesga from the South Sumatra Provincial Health Office, as well as Members of the DPR/MPR RI in charge of the education sector from South Sumatra.
The research conducted by Anita used an explanatory sequential design where the research began with a preliminary study using a qualitative design with an interview, observation, and documentation methods. In the second stage, a quantitative study was carried out, namely implementing an intervention using a quasi-experimental design to determine the effect of nutrition education based on local culture and increasing knowledge, attitudes, and adherence to iron supplements for young women.
“Based on the results of qualitative research, the nutrition education model used in increasing adherence to consumption of Blood Supplementary Tablets in young women is health workers as implementers, as well as using social media like Instagram and local culture according to the preferences of young women in the place where the iron supplementation program is given. The local culture considered appropriate is “kelakar betok” as a medium and means of information about TTD,” explained Anita in a summary of her dissertation. Furthermore, according to Anita, the implementation of anemia prevention and control programs for young women in the OKI District has yet to be optimal, starting from the input, process, and output stages.
“Furthermore, a quantitative stage study was carried out which aimed to examine the impact of local culture-based nutrition education interventions on knowledge, attitudes, and compliance with iron supplement consumption for young women in OKI District,” said Anita Rahmiwati. “The results of the quantitative study showed that there was an increase in knowledge and attitude scores in the intervention group and when compared to the control group, it was statistically significantly different (p<0.001) (p=0.003). Compliance with iron supplement consumption in the intervention group was 82.8%, where the level of compliance with iron supplement consumption in the intervention group was 22.5% higher than the control group (p=0.010),” said Anita. Based on the results from this dissertation, it is stated that nutritional interventions based on local culture can effectively increase knowledge, attitudes, and compliance with iron supplement consumption in young women in OKI District.
Anita suggested that local culture, such as “kelakar betok” could be developed as a medium in nutrition education to increase compliance with iron supplement consumption. Based on these recommendations, it is hoped that other regions can also adapt to their respective local cultures as long as the local culture is still used by the community and provides a sense of humor and joy. In particular, suggestions for Health Services in various districts/cities are expected to optimize the role of social media, especially Instagram, to provide nutrition education to young women regarding anemia and high blood pressure.
Based on the results of her dissertation, Anita Rahmiwati successfully graduated with a Cum Laude predicate and became a Doctor in Public Health Sciences (IKM). Anita is the 265th IKM doctoral graduate and the 341st doctoral graduate at FPH UI.
