Mentor

Peoples, Linda

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2020

Abstract

Malaria has been studied for years, and yet remains one of the most significant vector-borne diseases that travelers encounter in malaria-endemic regions (CDC, 2019). Education is noted to be critical in disease prevention, management, and eradication. Student missionaries are at high risk for infection and can have a global influence that is improved through education. A pilot study was conducted on eleven students with a pre-test and post-test design after a malaria education webinar. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the baseline level of education in student missionaries, as well as to assess the effect of malaria prevention education on student missionaries. For humanitarian aid workers going to Malaria endemic and partially endemic countries (as defined by the Centers for Disease Control), does Malaria education increase prevention awareness? A paired-samples t-test was calculated to compare the mean pre-test score to the mean post-test score. The mean of the pre-test was 9.35 (sd = 3.354), and the mean of the post-test score was 14.36 (sd = 0.80). A significant increase from the pretest to the post-test was found (t (10) = -5.142, p < 0.001). The study highlighted that a malaria prevention knowledge gap does exist in student missionaries. The study also found that a Malaria education intervention was effective in improving student’s knowledge. The results of this study have the potential to enhance university’s student mission’s education programs for student missionaries by providing a cost-effective method of education.

Keywords: Malaria, student missionaries, global health, humanitarian aid workers, webinar, student missionary learning

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