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Effect of Health Promotion Planning Education on Health Promotion Planning Skills among Public Health Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Community health projects provide public health students with practical opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world health problems and develop competencies required for effective health programme planning and implementation. However, limited practical exposure to community assessment, needs identification, priority setting, intervention design, resource planning, stakeholder engagement, budgeting, implementation planning, monitoring, and evaluation may affect the ability of public health students to effectively plan community health programmes. Community health project training provides an opportunity to strengthen students' practical competencies by exposing them to the processes involved in identifying community health needs and developing appropriate interventions. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of community health project training on health programme planning skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on Experiential Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Competency-Based Education Theory. Experiential Learning Theory explains how students acquire and strengthen practical knowledge through direct experience, reflection, conceptualization, and application. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes observational learning, self-efficacy, behavioural modelling, feedback, and environmental influences in the development of programme planning competencies. Competency-Based Education Theory focuses on the acquisition and demonstration of measurable knowledge, skills, attitudes, and professional competencies required for effective public health practice. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how community health project training may influence health programme planning skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate public health students enrolled in selected universities and other accredited tertiary institutions offering public health programmes in Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, institutions, departments or programmes, levels of study, and eligible students. Community health project training will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to community-based project activities, duration and frequency of training, community needs assessment exercises, field visits, health problem identification, community diagnosis, priority-setting exercises, intervention design, stakeholder engagement, resource planning, budgeting exercises, implementation planning, monitoring and evaluation activities, project supervision, and practical feedback. Health programme planning skills will be assessed using indicators such as ability to conduct community needs assessments, identify health priorities, formulate programme objectives, develop intervention strategies, prepare implementation plans, identify target populations, allocate resources, prepare basic programme budgets, develop work plans, identify stakeholders, develop monitoring indicators, establish evaluation plans, and prepare programme proposals. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, competency assessment instruments, practical project assessment tools, student project records, training records, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, exposure to community health project training, and levels of programme planning skills. 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 community health project training on health programme planning skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, programme planning skill scores before and after the training may be compared with those of a comparison group 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 project training has a significant positive impact on health programme planning skills among public health students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured and practical community health project training are expected to demonstrate stronger programme planning competencies than students with limited practical exposure. Training may improve students' ability to assess community health needs, identify priority health problems, formulate measurable objectives, design appropriate interventions, develop implementation plans, allocate resources, engage stakeholders, and establish monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Practical community experiences may also improve students' confidence and ability to apply classroom knowledge to real-world public health challenges. However, inadequate funding for field activities, limited access to communities, insufficient supervision, large student numbers, inadequate training resources, limited institutional support, and weak collaboration between academic institutions and community health organizations may reduce the effectiveness of community project training. The study therefore expects structured, adequately supervised, practical, and community-oriented project training to contribute significantly to improved health programme planning skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on public health education, community health training, experiential learning, health programme planning, competency development, field practice, community-based education, and public health workforce development in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Education, universities, public health training institutions, accreditation and regulatory bodies, public health departments, community health organizations, public health educators, field supervisors, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening practical public health education. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating structured community health projects into public health curricula, strengthening field-based learning, improving supervision and mentorship, increasing institutional support for community projects, developing standardized programme-planning competency assessments, and strengthening collaboration between educational institutions and community health organizations to prepare competent public health professionals in Nigeria.

Keywords: Community health project training, health programme planning skills, public health students, experiential learning, competency development, community-based education, public health education, programme planning, field training, Nigeria, public health.