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Effect of Community Health Counselling Sessions on Knowledge of Chronic Disease Prevention among Adults in Nigeria

Abstract

Chronic diseases constitute an important public health concern in Nigeria and contribute substantially to illness, disability, premature mortality, and healthcare costs among adults. Conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and some forms of cancer are influenced by modifiable risk factors, including unhealthy dietary practices, physical inactivity, tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, obesity, and inadequate preventive healthcare utilization. Despite the importance of prevention, some adults may have inadequate knowledge of chronic disease risk factors, warning signs, screening recommendations, and preventive measures. Community health counselling sessions provide an opportunity for healthcare workers and trained health educators to provide personalized and interactive information on chronic disease prevention within community settings. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of community health counselling sessions on knowledge of chronic disease prevention among adults in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Health Literacy Framework, and Social Cognitive Theory. The Health Belief Model explains how perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence adults' understanding and adoption of chronic disease prevention measures. The Health Literacy Framework emphasizes the ability of individuals to access, understand, evaluate, and apply health information when making decisions about disease prevention. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes observational learning, social interaction, self-efficacy, reinforcement, and environmental influences on health-related knowledge and behaviour. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how community health counselling sessions may influence knowledge of chronic disease prevention among adults in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise adults aged 18 years and above residing in selected communities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, communities, households, and eligible participants. Community health counselling sessions will be assessed using indicators such as frequency and duration of sessions, attendance, counselling content, number of counselling contacts, participation level, involvement of trained healthcare professionals or community health workers, use of local languages, individualized counselling, educational materials, opportunities for questions, follow-up counselling, and referral information. Knowledge of chronic disease prevention will be assessed using indicators such as knowledge of hypertension prevention, diabetes prevention, cardiovascular disease prevention, healthy nutrition, physical activity, healthy weight management, tobacco avoidance, responsible alcohol use, stress management, routine health screening, early warning signs, and appropriate healthcare-seeking practices. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, chronic disease prevention knowledge assessment tools, counselling attendance registers, facilitator records, health education materials, and relevant community health programme documents. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' characteristics, exposure to counselling sessions, and knowledge scores. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of community health counselling sessions on knowledge of chronic disease prevention. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, knowledge scores before and after participation in counselling sessions may be compared with those of a comparison community 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 community health counselling sessions have a significant positive effect on knowledge of chronic disease prevention among adults in Nigeria. Adults exposed to structured counselling sessions are expected to demonstrate improved understanding of chronic disease risk factors, preventive behaviours, recommended screening practices, and appropriate healthcare-seeking pathways compared with adults without comparable exposure. Interactive counselling may allow health workers to address individual concerns, clarify misconceptions, and provide practical guidance tailored to participants' circumstances. The use of local languages, culturally appropriate examples, visual materials, and repeated counselling contacts may further improve understanding and retention of health information. However, low attendance, limited availability of trained counsellors, inadequate educational materials, language barriers, cultural beliefs, misinformation, and irregular organization of counselling sessions may reduce effectiveness. The study therefore expects regular, interactive, accessible, and culturally appropriate community health counselling sessions to contribute significantly to improved knowledge of chronic disease prevention among adults in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on community health counselling, chronic disease prevention, health education, health literacy, health promotion, non-communicable disease prevention, community participation, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, state ministries of health, local government health authorities, primary healthcare centres, community health workers, health educators, community leaders, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving public knowledge of chronic disease prevention. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating structured counselling sessions into community health programmes, training healthcare workers in effective counselling techniques, using local languages and culturally relevant messages, strengthening community mobilization, providing appropriate educational materials, and establishing regular counselling and follow-up platforms for chronic disease prevention across Nigeria.

Keywords: Community health counselling, chronic disease prevention, health knowledge, adults, health education, health literacy, non-communicable diseases, health promotion, community health, disease prevention, Nigeria, public health.