Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Loretta Cain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine community health services and HIV/AIDS awareness in rural communities in Abia State Nigeria in respect to the sociodemographic factors of level of community health services, level of education, and community leaders' influence. Two questions guided the research process: To what extent are sociodemographic factors associated with HIV/AIDS awareness, and what is the relationship between level of community health services and extent of HIV/AIDS, as perceived by residents of these communities. A mixed method paradigm was used. A sample of 131 participants, who were HIV/AIDS patients, were purposively drawn from a population of 107,488 individuals from 2 selected rural communities in Aba South, Abia State, Nigeria. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov for normality distribution at p=0.1 for all variables indicated that normality rule was not violated. Descriptive and inferential tests (Spearman's rank order correlation, analysis of variance[ANOVA], chi-square tests of independence, Fisher's exact tests, and independent sample t-tests) were carried out with SPSS V.2 software and the confident level set at 95% (α=0.05). Findings revealed no significant association between level of education, level of community health services, and influence of community leaders and extent of HIV/AIDS awareness, as perceived by residents of these communities (p>0.05). Results also indicated significant relationship between the level of community health services and the extent of risk of HIV/AIDS, as perceived by residents of these communities. A well-planned method of information dissemination on HIV/AIDS can also be used to educate rural residents in Nigeria.

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