A Community-Based Health Education Project on Sanitation and Personal Hygiene in Getembe Zone Primary School, Kisii District, Kenya.

Abstract

<p>This thesis describes a health promotion project which was conducted in 29 Primary Schools in Getembe Zone, Kisii District, Kenya. The overall aims of the project were: (1) to raise awareness on sanitation and personal hygiene; and (2) to enhance participation in providing and improving basic sanitation facilities and activities; and (3) to help school personnel to develop a more practical approach to the teaching and learning of health education.</p> <p>The project was centred on access to the minimum requirements of primary health care (PHe): basic sanitation, water supply, and health education concerning proper sanitation and personal hygiene. This is in line with Kenya's health development policies of promotive and preventive health care and the National Guidelines for the implementation of PHC which call for intersectoral collaboration. The Community-Based Health Care (CBHC) approach was used as a strategy to promote health in the Getembe Zone primary Schools. This approach requires informed and active participants. To this end, Health Education, an important element of PHC was used to address the sanitation and hygiene issues in the school.</p> <p>The results showed notable achievements in sanitation facilities and activities. The number of pit latrines increased significantly from 230 at the beginning of the project to 287 at the time of evaluation. Sixty three pit latrines were under construction. Twelve schools had provided their pupils with urinals and 7 had water supply provided in their premises. Only 2 schools did not have refuse pits, while schools with fenced compounds increased from 14 to 24. Health education clubs were formed in 22 schools and 18 schools kept a record of sick pupils. However, performance was not uniform in all the project schools due to various environmental factors. The thesis describes 2 case studies to illustrate the factors that enhanced performance in the most successful school and those that hindered project activities in the least successful school.</p> <p>Analysis of the teachers' and parents' response to the project indicates the need for more involvement by the parents. On the other hand, analysis of the pupils' sanitation and hygiene knowledge and practice showed positive relationships with the availability of certain facilities and activities in the schools. This points to the need to strengthen social support for sanitation facilities and activities. It also requires that the project be approached from the homes to increase the parents' participation and to ensure constant follow-up by the project coordinating team. The conclusions drawn from the present study would be strengthened by a well-designed, longitudinal study.</p>