Increasing Pre-eclampsia Awareness Among the General Population in Mogadishu, Somalia
Abdirahman, Najmo; Isaksson, Sonja (2024)
2024
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024061423330
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024061423330
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The aim of the thesis was to understand Somali women´s and their families´ level of knowledge of pre-eclampsia, the importance of timely care as well as finding effective tools to increase awareness and disseminate knowledge about the condition among the masses.
The objectives of the thesis were three: to describe pre-eclampsia and its effects on women´s health, to understand the level of knowledge in the communities and to understand Somali women´s health behaviour by sending out a questionnaire to health care professionals. Additionally, to understand how radio programs can be used to spread awareness of pre- eclampsia and to provide recommendations on what kind of information Somali women and their families need as well as how the information should be distributed. Overall, the thesis tackled an important public health issue in Mogadishu and aimed to improve maternal and infant health outcomes through increased awareness.
The use of qualitative research approach in the thesis provided a valuable insight into the perspectives and experiences of healthcare professionals regarding pregnant women´s and their families awareness of pre-eclampsia in Mogadishu, Somalia. A survey with open-ended questions was used to collect data from healthcare workers working in Mogadishu. Ten healthcare workers participated in the survey. The perceptions and experiences of healthcare workers were explored.
The results were divided into four themes: knowledge, deprivation in the community, family relations and awareness raising. The findings in the survey emphasized in the importance of knowledge and empowering of communities through awareness raising as many women give a lot of weight to the advice of family members. The results also reinforced the importance of trust between laymen and healthcare professionals, to ensure that people seek timely care. Also, lack of evidence-based care, consistency and widespread misconceptions about healthcare systems drive people to seek care from more trusted sources albeit often medically untrained, such as traditional midwives. Lack of knowledge, mistrust and distrust of healthcare infrastructure coupled with out-of-pocket healthcare, increases the challenges of seeking care. Increasing accessibility to healthcare services, affordability and raising awareness among the population shall improve maternal and foetal healthcare in Mogadishu considerably decreasing their morbidity and mortality. In conclusion healthcare workers saw awareness raising as an opportunity to educate people.
The use of different tools such as radio and various social media platforms as well as events and seminars were described as easy ways to raise awareness on pre-eclampsia and evolve the whole community in it. Through increasing the health literacy of women and their family and on a larger scale the whole community, it is possible to tackle the issues brought by this condition. However, governmental leaders need to take substantial measures to help those in need in accessing care. In addition, more research needs to be done to see how much radio and social media platforms can be used to raise awareness and the possible differences between urban and rural areas.
The objectives of the thesis were three: to describe pre-eclampsia and its effects on women´s health, to understand the level of knowledge in the communities and to understand Somali women´s health behaviour by sending out a questionnaire to health care professionals. Additionally, to understand how radio programs can be used to spread awareness of pre- eclampsia and to provide recommendations on what kind of information Somali women and their families need as well as how the information should be distributed. Overall, the thesis tackled an important public health issue in Mogadishu and aimed to improve maternal and infant health outcomes through increased awareness.
The use of qualitative research approach in the thesis provided a valuable insight into the perspectives and experiences of healthcare professionals regarding pregnant women´s and their families awareness of pre-eclampsia in Mogadishu, Somalia. A survey with open-ended questions was used to collect data from healthcare workers working in Mogadishu. Ten healthcare workers participated in the survey. The perceptions and experiences of healthcare workers were explored.
The results were divided into four themes: knowledge, deprivation in the community, family relations and awareness raising. The findings in the survey emphasized in the importance of knowledge and empowering of communities through awareness raising as many women give a lot of weight to the advice of family members. The results also reinforced the importance of trust between laymen and healthcare professionals, to ensure that people seek timely care. Also, lack of evidence-based care, consistency and widespread misconceptions about healthcare systems drive people to seek care from more trusted sources albeit often medically untrained, such as traditional midwives. Lack of knowledge, mistrust and distrust of healthcare infrastructure coupled with out-of-pocket healthcare, increases the challenges of seeking care. Increasing accessibility to healthcare services, affordability and raising awareness among the population shall improve maternal and foetal healthcare in Mogadishu considerably decreasing their morbidity and mortality. In conclusion healthcare workers saw awareness raising as an opportunity to educate people.
The use of different tools such as radio and various social media platforms as well as events and seminars were described as easy ways to raise awareness on pre-eclampsia and evolve the whole community in it. Through increasing the health literacy of women and their family and on a larger scale the whole community, it is possible to tackle the issues brought by this condition. However, governmental leaders need to take substantial measures to help those in need in accessing care. In addition, more research needs to be done to see how much radio and social media platforms can be used to raise awareness and the possible differences between urban and rural areas.