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Impact of Public Health Information Boards on Health Information Awareness among Market Traders in Nigeria

Abstract

Access to accurate and understandable health information is an important component of disease prevention and health promotion. Market traders constitute a large population of adults who may experience occupational demands, limited time for healthcare utilization, and variable access to formal health education and preventive services. Public health information boards placed in markets may provide a practical means of delivering health messages on topics such as hygiene, communicable disease prevention, nutrition, sanitation, chronic disease prevention, vaccination, and appropriate healthcare utilization. However, the effectiveness of such information boards may depend on their visibility, accessibility, language, readability, relevance, and frequency of exposure. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of public health information boards on health information awareness among market traders in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Health Literacy Framework, and Social Ecological Model. The Health Belief Model explains how exposure to health information may influence traders' perceptions of disease susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits of preventive practices, perceived barriers, and cues to action. The Health Literacy Framework emphasizes individuals' ability to access, understand, evaluate, and apply health information to appropriate health decisions. The Social Ecological Model emphasizes the influence of individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and environmental factors on health information exposure and health-related awareness. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how public health information boards may influence health information awareness among market traders in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise adult market traders operating in selected major and community markets across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, markets, trading sections, and eligible traders. Public health information boards will be assessed using indicators such as availability of information boards, number and frequency of health messages displayed, visibility, location, readability, use of local languages, clarity of messages, relevance of topics, message rotation, duration of exposure, use of illustrations, maintenance of boards, and accessibility to traders. Health information awareness will be assessed using indicators such as recognition and understanding of displayed health messages, knowledge of disease prevention practices, awareness of available health services, knowledge of hygiene and sanitation practices, awareness of nutrition and healthy lifestyle recommendations, recognition of disease warning signs, knowledge of vaccination and screening services, and awareness of appropriate healthcare-seeking pathways. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, health information awareness assessment tools, observation checklists, information-board monitoring records, and relevant market health-promotion programme documents. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize traders' characteristics, exposure to public health information boards, and health information awareness 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 impact of public health information boards on health information awareness. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, awareness scores before and after installation or upgrading of the information boards may be compared with those of a comparison market 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 public health information boards have a significant positive impact on health information awareness among market traders in Nigeria. Traders who are regularly exposed to clear, visible, relevant, and culturally appropriate health messages are expected to demonstrate improved awareness of disease prevention, hygiene, sanitation, nutrition, vaccination, screening, and appropriate healthcare utilization. The use of simple language, local languages, illustrations, and frequently updated messages may improve comprehension and retention among traders with different educational backgrounds. Public health information boards may also provide continuous health education in environments where traders spend substantial portions of their daily lives, thereby increasing opportunities for repeated exposure to preventive health messages. However, poor visibility, overcrowded market environments, low literacy, language barriers, inadequate message updating, vandalism, limited maintenance, and information overload may reduce their effectiveness. The study therefore expects strategically positioned, regularly updated, visually accessible, culturally appropriate, and understandable public health information boards to contribute significantly to improved health information awareness among market traders in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on public health communication, health information awareness, health promotion, health literacy, market-based health education, community health, disease prevention, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, state ministries of health, local government health authorities, public health departments, market associations, community health workers, health educators, non-governmental organizations, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving access to health information in community settings. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening market-based health communication, improving the design and placement of public health information boards, using local languages and visual materials, regularly updating health messages, involving market associations in health promotion, and integrating information-board interventions with broader community health education programmes across Nigeria.

Keywords: Public health information boards, health information awareness, market traders, health promotion, health literacy, public health communication, community health education, disease prevention, health information, Nigeria, public health.