Application of The PRECEDE -PROCEED Model in Prevention of Brucellosis Focused On Livestock Vaccination Process

Background: This article reports the steps of an educational intervention, which is designed to change livestock breeders’ preventive behavior in terms of vaccinating their livestock against brucellosis. The study has been conducted in a rural area in a country with the second highest brucellosis prevalence in the world. Methods In a quasi-experimental study and applying PRECEDE-PROCEED model, 45 livestock breeders were trained through basket method, accompanied with constructive feedback from researchers and peers and a brief interactive lecture at the end. The livestock breeders’ awareness, attitude and practice level in the intervention group was compared with those of other 45 livestock breeders in a control group, one and six months after the intervention. The presence of anti-brucellosis antibodies in livestock’s blood was compared in groups and considered as the outcome measure of the intervention. Results Immediately and one month after the intervention, the mean scores of knowledge, awareness and practice of livestock breeders in the intervention group were significantly higher. Six months after the intervention, the results of the Rose Bengal tests were positive in more livestock in the intervention group compared to the animals in the control group. Conclusion The model-driven educational intervention could significantly increase livestock breeders' awareness, attitude and practice regarding prevention of brucellosis and vaccination of their livestock against brucellosis; however, a period of non-continuous reinforcement and gradual reduction of the number of the reinforcements by health educator workers is recommended in order to increase the maintenance of the learnt behavior. Trial registration: Conducting this study was registered at Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20180304038945N1). Registered 24 December 2018(https://www.irct.ir/trial/29996).The proposal was registered before enrollment of the first participant.