School Health Services Utilisation Among Secondary School Students in Ibadan, Oyo State (Published)
This study assesses the utilisation of school health services in Ibadan North-West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria, with implications for primary healthcare among school children and the prevention of early-life preventable diseases. The research objectives include determining the level of school health service utilisation among secondary students in public and private schools, investigating barriers affecting utilisation, and examining the association between school type and service utilisation. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was employed, sampling 300 students aged 10-19 from a population of 37,396 in Ibadan North-West Local Government Area. The study utilized a multi-stage sampling procedure and a self-structured questionnaire with sections on socio-demographic characteristics, utilisation assessment, and barriers. The instrument’s validity was established through content and face validity procedures. Results indicate a higher utilisation of school health services in private schools compared to public schools, highlighting a deficit in human and material resources for qualitative school health programs. Weak collaboration between the health and education sectors was detected, contributing to suboptimal standards and dissatisfaction among beneficiaries. Factors such as logistical challenges and changing living areas were identified as potential contributors to poor health program implementation. Recommendations include intensified efforts by school management boards to ensure service utilisation, the creation and maintenance of healthy school environments, and increased family involvement in school health service policies.
Keywords: Health, School, Students, Utilisation., services
Evaluating Guidance and Counselling Utilisation among Secondary School Teachers: Rejoinders from Selected Nigerian Schools (Published)
This research contended that Guidance and Counselling transcend provision of helping services for adolescent secondary school students but encompass delivery of such supports to their teachers. It aimed to evaluate whether the latter were utilising the Services, using five research questions. Descriptive survey design was adopted, leading to random sampling of 384 constituents of the target population. A 20 item structured questionnaire (Guidance Utilisation Evaluation Scale for Teachers-GUEST) was developed and administered as research instrument. Responses were projected based on Four Likert Scale type Format, with professionals and pilot tests respectively substantiating instrument’s validity and reliability. Data were analysed using mean scores, ensuing in the following findings: teachers supposed G and C functions as students’ services and did not utilise them; such functions were not extended to teachers as beneficiaries, but buddies; teachers merely sought practitioners’ aids for student and school developments; there were dearth of necessary teacher-support resources in school G and C units; absence of sufficient G and C functions consciousness impeded its utilisation among teachers; they were hardly motivated to seek G and C aids from their schools’ practitioners. Ultimately, expansion of the programme’s delineation was proposed for apt erudition of counsellor facilitation and counsellee/client participation.
Keywords: Evaluation, Guidance and Counselling, Secondary School, Teachers, Utilisation., world – Africa - Nigeria