Assessment On The Level Of Awareness Of Hiv/Aids
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
Assessment On The Level Of Awareness Of Hiv/Aids
ABSTRACT
This study examines the amount of HIV/AIDS awareness among undergraduate students at the University of Lagos, with implications for counselling. The survey was conducted among undergraduate students at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos.
The study sought to determine whether there was a significant difference in male and female undergraduate levels of HIV/AIDS awareness, whether religion had a significant effect on undergraduate HIV/AIDS awareness, and whether age had a significant effect on undergraduate HIV/AIDS awareness.
The survey was carried out using a sample size of one hundred and twenty (120) students from the University campus, male (60) and female (60), between the ages of 17 and 20, 21 and above. The respondents were also Muslims and Christians.
The obtained data was examined using a t-test, and the results revealed a substantial difference in male and female student HIV/AIDS awareness levels. It was also observed that religion and age had a substantial effect on undergraduate HIV/AIDS awareness levels.
A well-structured questionnaire was distributed to respondents to gather information on undergraduate students’ understanding of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention, as well as their sexual habits.
Twenty-five questions were intended to elicit knowledge on HIV/AIDS. The low level of understanding among female undergraduate students was noted, as were strategies to raise awareness among them, such as an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign day, as part of the recommendations.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
Background for the Study
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which destroys the body’s immune cells. However, in some parts of the world, recent medical improvements have resulted in a shift from the perception of a terminal disease to one of a chronic manageable condition. This new technique presents its own set of obstacles, as the condition is ultimately lethal (Forri et al, 1997).
HIV has resulted in a global epidemic significantly larger than was projected even a decade ago. HIV/AIDS is a complicated and highly politicised issue that affects all groups, regardless of colour, age, or sexual orientation (Ginsberg, 1995).
At the end of 2000, it was estimated that 36.1 million adults and children were living with HIV/AIDS, with the vast majority of them living in underdeveloped countries, including more than 25 million on the African continent.
Care providers for HIV/AIDS patients must be well trained in order to properly provide support to those who have been stigmatised as a result of the disease’s transmission. Adams defines formal caregiving services for the elderly and the unwell as those supplied bureaucratically by non-family and non-informal social structures.
Although families provide the majority of care for HIV/AIDS and other illnesses, formal services are available to assist those living with the dreadful disease. Individuals providing care-giving services must be exposed to training through regular attendance at seminars, workshops, orientation, and in-service programs.
These activities should also be offered to people who are not affected with HIV/AIDS in order to prevent the disease from spreading across society.
The World Health Organisation has established a goal of universal health coverage by the year 2000, and Nigeria’s health system has adopted this motto during the last decade. However, some of the major constraints confronting Nigeria include poverty, insufficient human resources, insufficient personnel in the medical sector (the few are concentrated in cities), illiteracy, insufficient funding of the health sector (less than 20% of the Gross National Product GNP), and, finally, a lack of information and research into the state of the nation’s health.
To make steady progress towards our aim of “Health for all by the year 2000,” the nation’s health needs must urgently encompass the following:
(1) The collecting of trustworthy epidemiological data for all of our country’s significant endemic diseases, including the feared HIV/AIDS sickness, as well as research inputs into our health delivery systems, in order to decide
(a) The effectiveness, efficiency, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of our efforts at all costs;
(b) new tools, procedures, and management tactics, as well as rural people’s acceptance of our thoughts and vision for improved and modern medical treatment.
(c) behaviours, attitudes, and environmental elements that may enhance or degrade the introduction of contemporary medical concepts into the context of long-standing relationships and trust in “traditional healers and native doctors”.
The initial cost of undertaking the studies indicated above may appear exorbitant, but such data will be profitable in the long term, making the health-care delivery system more reliable and cost-effective.
The tropical developing environment promotes the rapid spread of disease, particularly HIV/AIDS, which is most prevalent in rural areas with low literacy rates.
Mass medical/health education, including literacy classes, must be combined with the development of clean drinking water in order to combat prevalent avoidable diseases such as guinea-worm infection, schistosomiasis, amaebiasis, and soil-transmitted helminth infections. These account for 40% of our hospital admissions/attendance and are a significant drain on our national health and economy (Akintayo 1990).
According to Idabawa (2002), HIV/AIDS is one of the most serious unresolved issues of our day, endangering the very survival of the human race. It has the potential to erase decades of progress and development in the impacted nation. It has disastrous implications on the global economy, affecting all countries directly or indirectly.
HIV/AIDS promotes and accelerates poverty, undermines good health, and has a detrimental impact on education. It also has a negative impact on the political climate of affected countries and significantly lowers life expectancy. In 2002, around 5 million people were infected with HIV. The virus infects around 42 million people worldwide.
Nigerians account for 3.6 million of this staggering figure. Since the first instance of AIDS was recognised, more than 20 million people have died, with Nigeria accounting for 1.7 million.
The figures are both terrifying and overwhelming; for example, despite the fact that the first incidence of the virus was detected in Nigeria in 1986, statistics suggest that the pandemic is becoming more prevalent. It has gradually increased from 1.8% in 1998 to 3.8% in 1994, 4.55 in 1999, and 5.8% in 2001.
The frequency is relatively high, at 6.8%, among people aged 15 to 49. This is highly concerning because this group represents over half of the country’s reproductive workforce.
Nigeria, having crossed the 5% barrier that indicates the potential stage of the endemic, is at a crossroads and must take significant and immediate measures to contain the epidemic.
According to Omolewa (1990), HIV/AIDS carers serve as key role models and should be aware of this. They need training and support to meet the expectations both inside and beyond the country.
The nature of HIV/AIDS education necessitates that training extend beyond basic understanding and include the establishment of relevant and suitable rules of practice and professional ethics.
It entails examining personal attitudes to ensure that what is taught is practiced, since carers and trainers must lead by example. Carers must also develop specific skills for teaching or transmitting knowledge about the nature of HIV/AIDS and how to avoid contracting it, particularly when such abilities are required to ensure behavioural change.
Specialised teacher education and training to meet the unique needs of HIV/AIDS education presents a new challenge in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Training teachers or carers for HIV/AIDS education entails training almost all teachers and carers, which is no small effort.
Building capacity for HIV/AIDS education requires a massive investment in both personnel and supplies. This requires carers to be adequately educated and supported in HIV/AIDS social work through pre-service and in-service education and training (Kelly, 2000).
Pre-service and in-service education, as well as training/retraining, are critical components of providing risk education to HIV/AIDS patients. This will ensure that new materials, knowledge, and even methodologies are periodically reviewed and updated.
Furthermore, their training incorporates new approaches such as inquiry-based, rights-based, and gender sensitive education, which have been shown to be highly effective. Many of these strategies promote active involvement and skill development (Achizie, 2001).
According to Njinja (2001), resources are required for all activities, initiatives, and interventions. Implementation cannot occur in a vacuum. Resources include people, materials, and money.
Professionally educated HIV/AIDS educators, policymakers, naval personnel, administrators, social workers and mobilisers, media persons, community instructors, parents, teachers, and partners/stakeholders are among the human resources available in the battle against HIV/AIDS through education.
Material resources encompass all teaching and learning materials, curricula, supplemental books, and so on. Financial resources include the funds required for staff training and material manufacture. They also require investigation, monitoring, and evaluation.
Statement of the Problem
The challenge facing HIV/AIDS carers is their inability to receive suitable training, which will expose them to providing adequate care for individuals suffering from the terrible disease. Because of the lack of HIV/AIDS training programs for trainers of care-givers, few people who claim to be HIV/AIDS carers have significant expertise or abilities to care for those afflicted with the disease.
Misinformation and mishandling of HIV/AIDS prevail in Nigeria due to a lack of proper training sessions for carer trainers. The impact of the HIV/AIDS trainer training initiative in Nigeria has not delivered any beneficial results
resulting in additional disease spread while the government and other HIV/AIDS agencies remain impotent and have nothing to offer as a solution to the problem. This study looks at the influence of a carer training curriculum on HIV/AIDS in Lagos State.
The purpose of the study
This study assessed the impact of an HIV/AIDS carer training program at Ojo Naval Barracks in Lagos State. The precise objectives of the study include:
(1) Determine the impact of training on health care delivery among health workers in Lagos State.
(2) Determine whether there is any difference between carers who received training and those who did not.
(3) Determine whether HIV/AIDS carers in the community receive enough training.
(4) To discriminate between HIV/AIDS care provided by men and women.
(5) Investigate the reasons of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country.
(6) Propose viable solutions to the HIV/AIDS problem in society.
Research Questions
This study addressed the following research questions:
(1) How much of an influence will personnel training have on health care delivery among HIV/AIDS carers?
(2) Will there be a difference in service delivery between HIV/AIDS carers who received training and those who did not?
(3) Are carers well trained on HIV/AIDS?
(4) How can we tell the difference between HIV/AIDS carers provided by men and women?
(5) To what degree can we look at the causes of HIV/AIDS in society?
(6) How can we offer a solution to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Nigerian society?
Research Hypotheses
The following research questions were developed for testing in this study:
(1) Training will have no substantial impact on health-care delivery among the country’s health workers.
(2) There will be no substantial difference between the services provided by male and female HIV/AIDS carers.
(3) There will be no substantial difference in the service delivery of trained HIV/AIDS carers vs those who are untrained.
Significance of the Study
This study will benefit the following individuals:
(1) HIV/AIDS carers will gain from the study because it will enable them to demonstrate effective ways for dealing with HIV/AIDS patients and pass on information that will be useful to others who are not even living with the disease.
The findings and recommendations of this study will assist HIV/AIDS carers in becoming acquainted with many facts that will go a long way in assisting those living with the disease as well as those who are not living with the disease in abstaining from acts that will expose them to the risk of contracting the disease.
The study’s recommendations will undoubtedly influence the direction of HIV/AIDS carers in the Navy, allowing them to function more effectively.
(2) Government: The government shall be informed of the true facts of HIV/AIDS caregiving. The recommendations and conclusions of this study will assist the government, particularly the HIV/AIDS authorities, in determining how to best manage the disease known as HIV/AIDS.
(3) Society: This study will undoubtedly benefit society by educating it on all aspects of HIV/AIDS, which is a major health concern in many countries today.
(4) The study will serve as a resource for many academics and new researchers, as well as students, who will require this information to conduct additional research on HIV/AIDS and caring.
Scope of the Study
The study assessed the impact of an HIV/AIDS carer training program at Ojo Naval Barracks in Lagos State.
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic