Health Promotion Strategies for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention Among Adults in Urban Kano

The rising burden of non-communicable diseases in Nigerian urban centres necessitates evidence-based, culturally appropriate health promotion strategies that can be implemented at scale through community and workplace channels. This study examines current health promotion strategies for non-communicable disease prevention and their perceived effectiveness among adults in urban Kano, North West Nigeria. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining a cross-sectional survey of 400 adults attending primary health care centres with focus group discussions conducted with community leaders, health workers, and adults with chronic disease diagnoses. Health promotion strategies assessed include community health talks, mass media campaigns, workplace wellness initiatives, faith-based health programmes, and community screening events. Findings indicate that mass media campaigns and community health talks are the most widely recognised health promotion channels, yet self-reported behaviour change attributable to these channels is modest. Faith-based health programmes reach population segments otherwise disengaged from conventional health services and are associated with higher dietary behaviour change scores. Workplace wellness initiatives reach only the formal sector workforce, leaving the majority of the urban adult population in informal employment without structured health promotion access. Recommendations include developing integrated multi-channel health promotion strategies, building capacity of religious institutions to deliver health education, establishing community health promotion committees at ward level, and integrating non-communicable disease prevention education into the Kano State Primary Health Care programme. Keywords: health promotion, non-communicable diseases, prevention, urban Kano, adults