Community-Based Health Education Strategies for Awareness Creation and Prevention of Prostate Cancer Among Older Men in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State

Abstract

The study examined community-based health education strategies for awareness creation and prevention of prostate cancer among older men in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State. The study was guided by three objectives from which three research questions were derived. The analytic descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study with a population of 11,097 men aged 50 years and above in men’s organizations and health officers in secondary and tertiary health facilities in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor LGAs of River State. This comprises 11,087 men and 10 health officers in Rivers State University and University of Port Harcourt teaching hospitals. The sample size of the study was 375 respondents comprising 365 men aged 50 years and above in men’s organizations and 10 health officers in secondary and tertiary health facilities in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor LGAs of River State. The sample size was determined using Krejcie and Morgan Table. The multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the sample of the study. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Community-Based Health Education Strategies for Awareness Creation and Prevention of Prostate Cancer among Older Men Questionnaire”. The instrument was validated by three experts while the reliability of the instrument was established through a test of internal consistency using Cronbach Alpha method. Coefficients of 0.83, 0.79 and 0.80 were obtained for the various clusters of the instrument which showed that the instrument was reliable. The research questions of the study were answered using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed, among others that faith-based health outreach strategy and peer educator and community champions strategy enhanced awareness creation and prevention of prostate cancer among older men in Port Harcourt metropolis to a high extent. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that health authorities and non-governmental organizations should actively collaborate with faith-based organizations in Port Harcourt to conduct regular, structured health outreach programs focusing on prostate cancer.

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