Appraising the completeness of Road-to-Health booklets at ECD centres in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa

Growth monitoring is essential for promoting optimal child development and preventing growth faltering, which can have long-term health implications. The Road-to-Health Booklet (RtHB) is a parent-held, personal child health record used by health professionals and parents to monitor a child's health and development. Accordingly, it serves as a scalable intervention to track child growth, immunisation, and key child health services, and its effectiveness relies on consistent and accurate completion. To ensure continuity and quality of care, accurate record-keeping is essential. Accordingly, completing a child’s RtHB, immediate interpretation of the entry and appropriate action related thereto can enhance comprehensive care and could contribute to a decline in child morbidity and mortality. The study aimed to assess the extent to which the RtHB is completed regarding child growth, and immunisation information, as well as vitamin A and deworming medication. A quantitative document review was conducted with data extracted per RtHB to examine the completeness of the RtHB records and collected at the selected early childhood development (ECD) centres in Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipal. We examined the completeness of the RtHB records at purposively chosen ECD centres in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data was collected using a checklist designed by the researchers to audit the RtHBs which were collected at the ECD centres. Parents signed a consent form before providing their child’s RtHB for document review purposes. This study reveals well-documented birth weight and early vaccination records, but notable gaps exist in growth measurements, vitamin A supplementation, and deworming medication records. Inconsistent documentation may hinder the early identification of growth concerns and the timely implementation of interventions. Strengthening the utilisation of the RtHB through improved training and caregiver engagement could enhance its role in preventive healthcare. Findings highlight the need for improved record-keeping and adherence to growth monitoring and essential child health services.