IMPACT OF HEALTH EDUCATION WORKSHOP ON STUDENT KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARD THE DANGERS OF STRESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY EDO STATE

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of health education workshop on the knowledge and attitude of students towards the dangers of stress. The following research questions where generated and answered: The Quasi Experimental research was adopted for the study and purposive sampling technique was used in selection of fifty (50) 100 level undergraduate students from a total population of one hundred and fifty three students (153) from the two course areas in the Department of Health, Safety and Environmental Education (HSE) in the Faculty of Education, University. Data were collected with a twenty (20) item questionnaire instrument to ascertain the knowledge and attitudes of students towards the dangers of stress. From the data collected and analyzed, it was discovered that the students under the experimental group who were exposed to the health education workshop developed a significantly higher knowledge and a more positive attitude towards the dangers of stress than those in the control group who were not exposed to any intervention. This study was able to assess the effectiveness or using health education workshops in improving students’ knowledge and attitudes towards various health concepts in higher institutions and therefore should be institutionalized in the school curriculum as an adequate means of impacting knowledge in students. And it is recommended workshops should be organized and designed to meet specific needs and preferences of the students, and continuous evaluation as well as follow up studies should be done to monitor improvement in their attitudes towards the affected and help seeking behaviours about stress and stress management.