A Training of Trainers (TOT) for 30 women from the project villages was conducted for 4 days from Monday to Thursday in Satyam Community Centre, Poothurai Village. This programme was organized in association with HDFC and the main objective of this programme is to provide awareness training for the 30 women on COVID-19 related aspects which will help them to train the community people in the villages. Symptoms, preventions, and food habits that have to be followed were the main points of discussion during this training.

This four-day training was conducted by 2 head nurses who belong to the National Trainers of JCI and who were in charge in the COVID-19 ward during the pandemic. These 2 trainers have completed their Doctorate Degree and have rich hands-on experience in treating COVID-19 patients. Also, 2 doctorate professors who are trainers of nutrition also gave their expertise to the women. Various topics were discussed on all 4 days and the details are as follows.

Day 1

Day 1 focused on the basic concepts of the Corona Virus. The nurses explained in detail about Coronavirus, its inception, its transmisson, and various other aspects related to Coronavirus were explained in detail to all the 30 women. Symptoms that must not be ignored and the major health issues which will result after a person gets affected by the Coronavirus were explained with the help of videos and PowerPoint Presentations. This helped the women to understand the concepts easily. The nurses explained how the infected person must quarantine themselves and medicines that need to be taken were elaborated. Day 1 was very useful as it explained the basic aspects of the Coronavirus.

Day 2

The second day focused on improving the mental health of the corona patients. When a person gets affected with COVID-19, they get stressed and psychologically also they are affected. More than physical health, mental health plays a vital role in curing the patients, and how that needs to be taken care of was explained by the trainers. The role of the family members, the support that needs to be given by the family members, and ways to boost the confidence of infected person were elaborated in detail on day 2 of the training session.

Day 3

Day 3 trainers trained the 30 women on managing stress and to lead a peaceful life when a person gets infected by the COVID-19 virus. On the third day, the ways to keep oneself happy and peaceful when a person is unwell were explained. Laughter therapy, Yoga, visiting new places and people were the different methods that are to be followed to make oneself stress-free and these were explained with the help of videos and real-time examples by the trainers. This was very useful for the women and they learned to avoid and manage stress.

Day 4

Day 4 aimed to explain about the food and nutritious diet which has to be given to the coronavirus-affected patients. Food plays a vital role in keeping a person healthy and also to gain immunity power. To avoid the COVID-19 virus, one must have more immune power, and the main aspect to improve immune power is by taking a nutritious food. The nurses explained the various types of food that need to be given to corona patients and explained the benefits of every food. This was useful for the women and this can be followed not only for corona patients but generally by all to lead a healthy life.

On the first day, a pretest was conducted and on the last day, a post-test was conducted in which the nurses answered the doubts that were raised by the women trainees.

The training was conducted with activities, skits, role-play, videos, etc. The overall training for 4 days was very productive and it helped the 30 women to learn more useful concepts related to Coronavirus. All women gained the confidence to train other people in the village and provide awareness to all of them so that this virus can be avoided.