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Effect of Health Education on Safe Use of Public Swimming Pools among University Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Public swimming pools provide opportunities for recreation, physical activity, social interaction, and health promotion among university students in Nigeria. However, inappropriate swimming-pool practices may increase the risk of drowning, injuries, waterborne infections, skin conditions, chemical exposure, and other preventable health problems. University students may engage in unsafe behaviours such as swimming without adequate supervision, ignoring pool safety rules, diving into shallow water, swimming while ill, failing to shower before entering pools, sharing personal items, or using poorly maintained swimming facilities. Limited awareness of swimming-pool hygiene, drowning prevention, injury prevention, and appropriate responses to pool-related emergencies may further increase these risks. Health education provides an opportunity to improve students' knowledge and promote safer swimming-pool practices. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of health education on the safe use of public swimming pools among university students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Social Ecological Model. The Health Belief Model explains how students' perceptions of susceptibility to swimming-pool-related health risks, perceived severity, perceived benefits of safe practices, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action may influence their behaviour. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes observational learning, behavioural modelling, self-efficacy, reinforcement, peer influence, and social support in shaping swimming-pool safety practices. The Social Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of individual, interpersonal, facility, environmental, institutional, and community factors on safe swimming behaviour. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how health education may influence safe use of public swimming pools among university students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate and postgraduate students aged 18 years and above who use selected public swimming pools in Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, swimming facilities, and eligible students. Health education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to swimming-pool safety education, frequency and duration of educational sessions, information on drowning prevention, swimming-pool rules, safe diving, supervision, swimming ability, pool hygiene, pre-swimming showering, avoidance of swimming while ill, prevention of waterborne and skin infections, appropriate use of personal protective items, chemical-safety awareness, emergency-response procedures, first aid, and recognition of unsafe pool conditions. Safe swimming-pool use will be assessed using indicators such as compliance with pool rules, appropriate diving practices, use of designated swimming areas, avoidance of swimming while intoxicated or physically unwell, appropriate pre-swimming hygiene, avoidance of urinating or defecating in pools, responsible use of personal items, avoidance of risky horseplay, appropriate response to emergencies, use of available safety equipment, and reporting of unsafe pool conditions. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized swimming-pool safety assessment tools, facility observation checklists, scenario-based questions, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, swimming experience, frequency of pool use, sources of safety information, health education exposure, and safe swimming-pool practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of health education on safe swimming-pool use. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, safe swimming-pool practice scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that health education has a significant positive effect on the safe use of public swimming pools among university students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured, practical, and sustained swimming-pool health education are expected to demonstrate safer swimming behaviours than students without comparable exposure. Education may improve students' understanding of drowning risks, safe diving, pool hygiene, infection prevention, emergency response, and appropriate use of swimming facilities. Practical demonstrations may strengthen students' ability to identify unsafe behaviours and environmental hazards and encourage compliance with pool rules. Education may also encourage students to shower before swimming, avoid swimming when ill, refrain from dangerous horseplay, and seek assistance when emergencies occur. However, peer influence, overconfidence in swimming ability, inadequate supervision, poor facility maintenance, overcrowding, lack of safety equipment, weak enforcement of pool rules, and limited access to trained lifeguards may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects accessible, practical, facility-specific, and sustained health education, supported by adequate pool safety infrastructure and effective supervision, to contribute significantly to improved safe swimming-pool practices among university students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on swimming-pool safety, drowning prevention, recreational health, water hygiene, injury prevention, university student health, health education, environmental health, water safety, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Education, universities, university health centres, swimming-pool operators, lifeguards, environmental health officers, public health practitioners, sports departments, student organizations, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for promoting safer recreational swimming. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening swimming-pool health education, improving enforcement of pool safety rules, increasing access to trained lifeguards and emergency equipment, improving pool hygiene and maintenance, promoting drowning-prevention awareness, and developing sustainable recreational health and safety programmes that support safe use of public swimming pools among university students across Nigeria.

Keywords: Health education, safe swimming-pool use, public swimming pools, university students, swimming-pool safety, drowning prevention, water hygiene, injury prevention, recreational health, environmental health, Nigeria, public health.