ABSTRACT
This study examined the impact of health education on community awareness among Ezillo community. The study adopted adopted a descriptive survey design to sample the opinion of respondents. This method involved random selection of respondents who were administered with questionnaires. Relevant conceptual, theoretical and empirical literature was reviewed. The target population of the study comprised selected students from selected residents from Ezillo Community. The questionnaire administered was three hundred and ten (310) copies and three hundred copies (300) retrieved which constitute the sample size. The descriptive and analytical approach was adopted using Chi-square to test and analyze the hypotheses earlier stated. Findings revealed that health education significantly impacted on community awareness among Ezillo Community. The finding of the study also reveals that health education helps patients to understand every prescription as well as usage of drugs, in terms dosage and time intervals when the prescribed drugs are to be taken among residents in Ezillo Community. The findings of the study also reveal that there is a significant relationship between health education and community awareness among Ezillo community. The finding of the study also reveals that health education gives information to patient on the available healthcare and cost as well as location. The findings of the study reveal that inadequate health personnel is one of the factors that militates against the use of health education in community awareness among residents in Ezillo Community. It was therefore concluded that health education significantly have impact on the community awareness among Ezillo community. It was recommended that Government should employ qualified health education teachers to improve the teaching standard in secondary schools in Cross River state especially at the rural areas.
CHAPTER ONE
INTORDUCTION
Education can be seen as an accumulated experience that helps to shape human character and mind. It is also process through which societal values, norms, principles,ethos,skills and mores can adequately be conveyed. It is an established fact that members of a given society seek education to acquire useful knowledge that can better their lots (Oye, Obi, Mohd and Bernice, 2012).
It has been observed that Education is an importantsocial determinant of health. Research has it that a greater level of education can help advance public health, create wealthier economies as well as generate more cohesive, safer and healthiersocieties. The knowledge and social skills provided through education can better equip individuals to access and use relevant health information and arrive at healthy decision making needed to maintainandimprove personal and family health (Higgins, Lavin & Metcalfe, 2008). Health consciousnessis a possible determinantof a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle is pre-requisite for academic success. Students mustbe healthy in other to function effectively in school (Botchway, Wiafe-Akenteng & Atefoe, 2015). School health programs are said to be one of the most efficient strategies that many developing nations used to prevent major health disasters and social problems. Schools are considered one of the major institutions for providing the required instruction and experiences that can help prepare young people to learn better ways to effectively manage their health as well as becoming healthy and productive future adults (Stateuniversity.com, 2016).
Health Education at this level is a consciously constructed opportunitiesfor learning, designed to facilitate changes in behaviour towards a predetermined goal, and involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy, knowledge, and life skills that are conducive to individual and community health (PAHO 1996; WHO 1998). As pointed out by Donatelle (2009),some of the key areas covered by health education include: environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health. School health education builds students' knowledge,skills, and positive attitudes about health and motivatesthem to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease, andreduce risky behaviours. It also helps in making people to acquire needed skills to enable them make healthy choices and arrive at goodpractices that in turn contributes to societal growth and development. This may have informed the conclusion of the New Hampshire Department of Education (2012) that effective health education can bring about positive changes in behaviour thatlower people risks around alcohol,tobacco, and other drugs, injury prevention, mental and emotional health, nutrition, physical activity, prevention of diseases and sexuality and family life.
A study by Kubayi and Surujlal (2014) lamented that adolescents are fast becoming more obese and more sedentary because of their lack of adequate health knowledge and participation in physical exercises. A state like Cross River where predominantly made up of vulnerable rural dwellers often exposed to health challenges due to lack of proper health education, untidy environments, unwholesome cultural practises, untreated drinking water and superstitious believes amongst others, poses a serious health education challenge. More worrisome isthe increasing rate ofmalaria, polio, HIV-AIDS, and other communicable diseases like dysentery, measles, diarrhea, typhoid fever due to lack of adequate health information and awareness(Ngwu,2016). Inview of the above,thisstudy will critically evaluate the impact of health education on community awarenessamong residents in Ezillo community.
Education play a key role in imparting important information on health and human relations. The school setting provides an important venue to transmit information and skills that can protect youth against risky behaviours(Rosen, Murray & Moreland, 2004). It is observed that residents in rural communities are usually vulnerable to unplanned pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), obesity and other health related challenges due to lack of proper health education. These challenges are often attributed to low parental supervision witnessed in our society. Hence, rural dwellers often engage in sporadic and unprotected sexual intercourse which isobviously inimical to their academic life. This has resulted to several cases of unsafe condition of abortions estimated at 760,000 leading to 20,000 death cases (Arinze-Onyia, Aguwa & Nwobodo, 2013). Currently, health consciousness among residents in rural communities have witnessed serious decline.
Rural residents like those in Ezillo community are reckless with health issues. They pay little or no attention to health education. As observed in Ogbiji and Ekpo (2011), most people in the local communities are unaware of the obvious benefit of health education which is geared towards developing optimum physical, mental, emotional and social health among all pupils.
A report by Kubayi and Surujlal (2014) attributed the increased obesity among children to the increasing trend of physical inactivity due totheir exposure to modern technological devices such as television, computer games, video games, mobile phones, Internet, accessto fastfoodsrich in saturated fats, and the fact that children are often driven to school nowadays as opposed to walking or cycling. It is based on this background that the present study seeks to examine the impact of health education on community awarenessamong residents in Ezillo community.
The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of health education on community awareness among Ezillo community. Specific objectives of the study include;
The study seeks to answer the following questions
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following were hypothesized in the study;
Hypothesis One
H0: There is no significant impact of Health education on community awareness among residents in Ezillo community
H1: There is a significant impact of Health education on community awareness among residents in Ezillo community
Hypothesis Two
H0: There is no significant relationship between health education and community awareness among Ezillo community
H1: There is a significant relationship between health education and community awareness among Ezillo community
1.6 Significance of the Study
The significance of thus study was examine the impact of Health education on community awareness among residents in Ezillo community.
Findings of this study will be beneficial to the local government, state government and federal government by revealing the impact and relevance of health education in creating awareness in local/rural communities in Nigeria
Findings of this study will also be beneficial to medical practitioners by way of encouraging them to channel their energy towards creating awareness of health issues in rural communities.
Findings of this study will also be of significance to the federal government and other parastatals of government by helping them know the factors that militate against the creation of health awareness so as to seek for ways to sort out these issues.
The findings of this study will further serve as a source of reference to students and other researchers who want to embark on similar topic in different location in Nigeria.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study covered the entire Ezillo community. However, due to financial and logistical factor, the scope was delimited to reachable residents in the community. It was also delimited to the evaluation of the impact of health education and community awareness among residents in Ezillo community.
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
Health: State of wellness of students.
Health Education: This refers to the health education activities carried outin a Ezillo community for promoting and maintaining health ofstudents.
Health Consciousness: The state of being alert and aware about health outcomes.
Health Knowledge: The realization of health information, particularly those passed in schools.
Community Awareness: This refers to a way of bringing something or a phenomena to the understanding of people in the community.
Copyright © 2025 All Right Reserved CVClue
A Subsidiary of EMINENT INFO TECH VENTURES