Improving Mothers’ Knowledge of Toddler Health and Development Monitoring through a Health Education Intervention at Posyandu Anggrek, Tasik Serai Barat Village, Bengkalis, Riau

Abstract

Monitoring the health and development of toddlers is an important component of early detection of growth and developmental disorders. Mothers play an essential role because they are the individuals who interact most frequently with their children and can conduct continuous monitoring within the family environment. This community service activity aimed to improve mothers’ knowledge and skills in monitoring the health and development of toddlers. The activity employed an educational approach with a one-group pretest–posttest evaluation design and was conducted on May 7, 2026, at Posyandu Anggrek, Tasik Serai Barat Village. A total of 30 mothers with toddlers participated in the activity. The education was delivered through interactive lectures, discussions, question-and-answer sessions, demonstrations, hands-on practice, and the use of leaflets as educational media. Participants’ knowledge was assessed using a questionnaire before and after the educational intervention. The results showed that the mean knowledge score increased from 10.47 ± 2.047 at the pre-test to 15.10 ± 2.057 at the post-test, representing a mean increase of 4.63 points. The Shapiro–Wilk test indicated that the pre-test and post-test data were normally distributed; therefore, a Paired Sample t-Test was applied. The analysis demonstrated a significant difference in knowledge scores before and after the educational intervention (t = −9.500; df = 29; p < 0.001). Mothers’ skills also improved across all assessed developmental domains. The ability to monitor gross motor development increased from 50.0% to 83.3%, fine motor development from 46.7% to 80.0%, language development from 33.3% to 60.0%, and social-emotional development from 40.0% to 66.7%. These findings indicate that education on toddler health and developmental monitoring using interactive methods, demonstrations, hands-on practice, and leaflet-based educational media was effective in improving mothers’ knowledge and skills. The integration of interactive education and reusable educational materials may support mothers in conducting continuous monitoring of toddler health and development within the family environment.