Significance of Community Education in Awareness Creation and Prevention of Breast Cancer among Women in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the significance of community education in awareness creation and prevention of breast cancer among women in Kolokuma/Opokuma and Yenagoa Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. This study was guided by three research questions and one nul hypothesis. The research adopted a descriptive design with a population of 1,558 community based women organizations in Kolokuma/Opokuma and Yenagoa Local Government Areas inclusive of all the 19 women patients in the Breast Cancer Unit of Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. A total sample size of 621 was drawn from the respondents using the purposive and proportionate-stratified sampling technique. Data for the study was collected with the use of a selfstructured questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated by two experts in the field of Adult and Non-Formal Education with a recorded reliability index of 0.87. Responses to the questionnaires were analysed with the descriptive statistics of mean, grand mean and the hypothesis were tested
using the Chi-square at a 0.05 level of significance. The results of the data analysed revealed that though the women have a fairly high level of awareness and knowledge of prevention of breast cancer, most respondents are still not aware of the risk factors that expose women to the disease. As a result of the findings, the need for Community Education Programmes to create more awareness of Breast Cancer among women in the study area becomes very necessary. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that there is need for more awareness creation among women using community education programmes. Therefore, NGOs, Religious bodies, Volunteers, and Government Agencies interested in community development should establish community outreach structures to ensure facilitation, assimilation and sustainability of breast cancer awareness amongst women in Kolokuma/Opokuma and Yenagoa LGAs in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.