THE EFFECT OF HEALTH EDUCATION ON HIV STIGMATIZATION AMONG NIGERIAN RAILWAY WORKERS.

THE EFFECT OF HEALTH EDUCATION ON HIV STIGMATIZATION AMONG NIGERIAN RAILWAY WORKERS.

Abstract

The study was undertaken to determine the level of knowledge of, attitude to and practices of Nigerian Railway workers towards HIV/AIDS and people living with HIV/AIDS, to implement a health education programme on HIV/AIDS and HIV stigmatization among these workers and to evaluate the effect of the health education on the level of stigmatization attached to HIV/AIDS by the workers. The field work was carried out at the premises of the Nigerian Railway Corporation in Lagos and Ibadan between August and November 2005
Two hundred participants each were selected by a systematic random sampling method into the study and control group. Three hundred and thirty eight respondents completed the questionnaires which were available for analysis. The majority of the respondents (73.5%) were males while 26.5% were females. The mean age of the respondents was 42.25 years ±7.07years. Majority of the respondents (77.8%) in the study group and 75.2% of those in the control group were married. Most of the respondents were skilled workers and over 30% had up to secondary school education.
The study was done in three phases. In the first phase, baseline data was obtained from both study and control groups. The second phase was the implementation of a health education programme on the study group. The third phase involved a reassessment of the two groups to determine the effect of the health education.
Awareness of HIV/AIDS was generally high in respondents in both study and control group. Most of the respondents obtained their information from the electronic media; i.e. TV and radio .Majority had known about HIV/AIDS for years and over 50% reported that AIDS has no cure. Knowledge of routes of transmission was generally high but misconceptions about routes of HIV transmission exist. Knowledge of mode of protection from HIV was also generally high. Post intervention there was a significant increase in the level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS in the study group relative to the control group.
With respect to attitudes to HIV/AIDS and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) this was observed to vary with the issue involved. On whether HIV/AIDS should be considered a social disgrace and whether PLWHA should be considered dangerous, over one third in both study and control groups agreed. However on the question whether PLWHA deserved to be punished majority of respondents disagreed. On whether an employer has the right to require an HIV test as a prerequisite for employment. majority of respondents in both study and control groups agreed but on whether PLWHA should be employed over two-thirds of respondents in both study and control groups indicated that they deserved to be employed and over three-quarters were willing to work with an infected person. On attitude towards infected family members majority of respondents in the study were willing to care for and support HIV infected relatives.
Post intervention, a statistically significant improvement was noted in the attitude of the respondents in the study group towards HIV/AIDS and PLWHA relative to the control group which is attributable to exposure to information from the health education programme they had received.
The study concluded that health education has a positive effect on knowledge of, attitude to and practices of Nigerian Railway workers towards HIV/AIDS and PLWHA. It was recommended that health education should be sustained to remove misconceptions about HIV infection. Further research was also advocated into the social roots of HIV stigma in order to apply appropriate stigma reduction measures.

Title Page———i

Certification——–ii

Dedication———iii

Acknowledgement——-iv

Abstract ———vi

Table of Content——–vii

 

Chapter One

1.0 Introduction ——-1

1.1 Statement of Problem——4

1.2 Purpose of the Study——5

1.3 Significance of Study——8

1.4 Limitation——–9

1.5 Scope of Study——-11

 

Chapter Two

2.0 Review of Related Literature —-12

2.6 Summary of Literature Review—- 19

 

Chapter Three

3.0 Research Methodology and Procedure—22

3.1 Population ——–22

3.2 Sample and Sampling Technique—-22

3.3 Validation of the Instrument —-23

3.4 Reliability of the Instrument —–23

3.5 Data Analysis——-23

 

Chapter Four

4.0 Presentation and Discussion of Result—24

4.1 Analysis and interpretaion of Data—25

4.2 Discussion of Results——38

 

Chapter Five

5.0. Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendation  –40

5.1 Summary——–40

5.2 Conclusion——–41

5.3 Recommendation——42

References ———45

Appendix 1——–47

Appendix ———50

THE EFFECT OF HEALTH EDUCATION ON HIV STIGMATIZATION AMONG NIGERIAN RAILWAY WORKERS.

Sharing is caring!