📄 Abstract
Public hospitals increasingly rely on social media to disseminate health information and raise awareness of available services, yet information gaps continue to limit residents' awareness of health services in Nakuru County. This study examined the effect of social media strategy on health services awareness in Level 4 and Level 6 public hospitals in Nakuru County, Kenya. A correlational cross-sectional research design and a census approach were adopted, targeting 71 duty bearers across 11 public health facilities. Data were collected from 57 respondents, representing an 80.3% response rate, using structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and simple linear regression were used to analyze the data. The social media construct achieved a Cronbach's alpha of 0.966, indicating high internal consistency. Social media showed a strong, positive, and statistically significant correlation with health services awareness (r = 0.954, p < .001), and simple linear regression indicated that social media significantly predicted awareness, explaining 91.0% of the variation in awareness scores (R² = 0.910, F(1, 55) = 556.13, p < .001; B = 0.851, p = .001). The study concludes that social media is a statistically significant driver of health services awareness but recommends that public hospitals treat it as one component of an integrated communication strategy, strengthen structured social media governance, improve the accuracy and timeliness of shared information, and actively build resident engagement rather than relying on one-way information posting.
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📚 How to Cite:
Reitz Ngonyo Muriithi, Daisy Jeptepkeny Chebet Bowen, Ann Wacira , EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY ON HEALTH SERVICES AWARENESS IN LEVEL 4 AND LEVEL 6 PUBLIC HOSPITALS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA , Volume 12 , Issue 9, September 2026, EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) , Pages: 262 - 266 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra31504