Role of Community Health Volunteers in Promoting Uptake of Cervical Cancer Screening among Women of Reproductive Age, Nairobi City County, Kenya
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Date
2023-05
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
The mortality rate from cervical cancer has been rising, especially among young women. This is because women generally believe that getting cancer means dying. As a result, many women avoid health screenings and ignore potential health problems. As a result of women's ignorance, cfforls to raise awareness and sensitivity to cervix and breast cancer are failing. This research aimed to learn how community health volunteers in Nairobi City County influence the number of women of childbearing age who get screened for cervical cancer. The research method was a descriptive cross-sectional analysis. Nairobi served as the study's home base, We employed both a simple random sampling and a stratified random sampling strategy. For this study's sample size calculation, we used the Fisher formula. There were 363 community health volunteers used as the sample. Primary data was gathered through the use of a self-administered questionnaire and FGDS. The data was analyzed using both inferential and descriptive statistics. The results were displayed using pie charts and percentages. The findings showed that despite CHVs' potential to play a major role in educating women about the value of cervical- cancer screening, many respondents had not done so. The majority of respondents also did not refer cases of cervical-cancer screening to other CHVs, despite the fact that referrals are a key part of increasing cervical-cancer screening. Conclusions Social and economic barriers (income, transportation costs, daily expenses, and involvement level) were found to be significantly related to encouraging cervical cancer screening among women. Further, the study found that CHV participation in increasing cervical- cancer screening was significantly correlated with social-cultural obstacles (community appreciation, churches' support). A lack of training on promoting cervical cancer screening, CHV training manuals, screening services, easily accessible health system programs, and skilled and competent health workers were also identified as significant health system barriers preventing the effective promotion of cervical cancer screening., Researchers concluded that community health workers (CHVs) should be included in cervical cancer screening programs and that policymakers and health system management should give them the tools they need to succeed. The promotion of cervical-cancer screening can also be realized through the training of community health volunteers by health institutions. More work needs to be done to get the word out about cervical cancer screening, lower the price of screening, and make it more accessible to more people
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of a Master of Public Health Degree (Reproductive Health) in the School of Health Sciences of Kenyatta University, May 2023.