12-19 September 2022 -- NNC9 Development Management Officer II Ms. Rowence F. Zorilla together with the other trained supervisors from DOH 9 NDDPs Ms. Kristel Joy P. Ubas and Ms. Bianca Balbin, ZDN Provincial Nutrition Office staff Ms. Carlady Charm A. Romarate, Mr. Isaiah Thomas Lim and Ms. Nemia Aboyo, MHOs, MNAOs, MNPCs and midwives of the four KOICA areas has successfully conducted a Roll Out Training for the project entitled "Technical Support to NNC in the Development of Data Quality Audit Protocol for the Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) and Updating of Implementing Guidelines" in the municipalities of Siayan, Godod, Leon B. Postigo and Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte. The rollout training aims to train the OPT Plus Team on the OPT Plus Manual of Operations (MOP) and Data Quality. The training was participated by no less than 88 Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS), Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), Midwives, Barangay Kagawad, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), and nurses of the four KOICA areas in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte.
Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) is an annual child growth assessment for all 0-59 month-old children in the barangays where length/height, weight, and MUAC measurements are collected to generate data on the nutritional situation of children as inputs to community nutrition assessment, nutrition program planning, and monitoring and evaluation of the local nutrition action plan (LNAP). The five major activities of OPT Plus include the Pre-OPT Plus Protocol, OPT Plus Anthropometric measurement, Data interpretation and action planning, Nutritional Status assessment, and OPT Plus monitoring and evaluation. Among these, certifying the OPT Plus members is the first and most important activity in the OPT Plus activities. The certification of the OPT Plus measurers will ensure that the OPT Plus Team has the knowledge and skills on the OPT Plus protocols to generate quality data.
The 3-day rollout training includes a series of training sessions composed of lecture-discussion, workshops, and field practicum. The first day includes lecture-discussion and demonstration on Section 1: Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) Overview; Section 2: Pre-OPT Plus Protocol; Section 3: OPT Plus Protocol on Anthropometric Measurement; and Section 4: OPT Plus Protocol on Encoding and Report Generation. An orientation for the Standardization Exercise and Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA) was also conducted in preparation for the Standardization Exercise on the second day. The second day includes the Standardization Exercise and encoding of results using the ENA SMART Software. The standardization exercise was conducted to ensure that all OPT Plus team members are precise and accurate in measuring the weight, length, height, and MUAC of children. This activity will evaluate the precision and the accuracy of the measurements taken by each pair of measurers from 10 barangay of a Local Government Unit (LGU).
Moreover, an actual Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) was conducted by the OPT Plus team in their respective barangays. A total of two hundred (200) 0-59 months old children were measured during the fieldwork. The data was recorded in the BNS Printout and encoded using the eOPT Plus tool. Following the fieldwork, the lecture discussion on Section 5: OPT Plus Protocol on Data Interpretation and Action Planning and Section 6: OPT Plus Protocol on Monitoring and Evaluation was conducted. After undergoing and passing the training sessions, standardization exercise, and pre and postest, the trained OPT Plus members are expected to confidently generate quality OPT data in their respective communities.
ZDN DMO II Rowence F. Zorilla, RND
