Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Education and Promotion

Advisor

John Saindon

Abstract

Reporting mortality information is the primary data source from which evidence can be drawn to monitor disease trends and inform public health policy to improve population health. Still, only two-thirds of expected annual deaths are reported globally. Health education and promotion play a significant role in empowering communities to uptake public health services such as mortality surveillance. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to understand health workers’ (HWs’) perspectives regarding the need for health education to support mortality surveillance in Machakos County, Kenya. The capabilities, opportunities, and motivation for the behavior change model guided the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 10 participants based on their involvement in death registration activities, training as HWs, and participation in health education activities. Findings from coding and thematic analysis indicated formal education and training about death registration were rarely or never provided to community members or HWs, who learned about mortality surveillance on the job. Opportunities for educating community members about the importance of death registration healthcare tasks were reported. HWs who attended community meetings were allowed time to talk to people regarding the significance of registering their dead. Death prevention was the strongest motivation for reporting deaths. The findings indicated the need for a curriculum and educational material for healthcare workers and communities on the importance of mortality surveillance. Findings may enable the Machakos County government health department to enrich HWs’ training by integrating health education on mortality surveillance.

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