Health Education Intervention and Burden of Sickle-Cell Condition Among Primary Caregivers in Osun State

Sickle cell disorder is a global health challenge which overtime have defy most medical efforts for treatment and the best remedy lie in its prevention. Therefore, managing a life-long chronic illness such as sickle cell disease (SCD) can be burdensome, specifically to caregivers. More so, if these burdens are not well managed, it may be detrimental to quality of life (QOL) of caregivers. Therefore, introducing health education to caregivers could enhance self-management of stress. This study therefore investigates Health education intervention and burden of sickle-cell condition among primary caregivers in Osun State. This study adopted quasi-experimental designed. The total sample size for this study was 208 participants, who were selected using Two stages sampling techniques: while systematic sampling technique was used in selection of PHCs, Purposive sampling technique was used in selection of participants. A primary sourced data collection instrument (structured questionnaire) with close ended items was adopted for collection of data. Data collected were Sorted, Edited and Coded, respectively before processed into Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) edition 27 for analysis. Data were analyzed using frequency and valid percent aspect of descriptive Statistics. Finding revealed an increase in the rate of participant with good knowledge between pre-intervention and post-intervention (48.8%<79.6%). Finding also revealed a reduction in the overall financial high burden from pre-intervention and post-intervention (70.5%<44.6%). Finding also revealed a reduction in the level of psychological burden from pre-intervention to post-intervention (56.2%<30.8%). The study concluded that, majority of the respondents’ experienced financial and psychological burden, which becomes reduced significantly during post intervention. This study therefore recommended that, government should institute strict policies on premarital genotype screening to ensure that individuals going into marriage knows their status before marriage.