IMPACT OF DISEASE EDUCATION ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND TYPHOID-FEVER PREVENTIVE PRACTICES AMONG MOTHERS IN AKOKO SOUTH-WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE

The study was carried out to investigate the impact of health education on knowledge, attitude and typhoid-fever preventive practices among mothers in Akoko south-west local government area of Ondo state. A quasi-experimental research design was used for the study. The instrument used was a self-constructed questionnaire. It was found to have reliability coefficient 0.67 when subjected to test-retest method using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC). It was administered, coded and analyzed with SPSS using frequency count, simple percentage and simple paired sample T test to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significant level. The study revealed that Health education has significant impact on knowledge of typhoid fever preventive practices while the impact of health education on attitude towards typhoid fever preventive practices was not significant. Age and level of education have no significant correlation with attitude of mothers towards typhoid fever preventive practice. Based on the findings and conclusion of this study the following recommendations were made: Government should make Health education compulsory in primary, secondary and tertiary curriculum; Mothers should be sensitized on the preventive measures of typhoid fever; Health educator should teach mothers the causes of typhoid fever and the ways it can be prevented; Government should create an avenue for health talk in all communities at least once in a month for mothers that did not have formal education to know more about different diseases and how they can be prevented &Non-government organization should support government through an outreach in which the knowledge of typhoid fever and it preventive practices can be conveyed to multitude under different age categories.