Innovations and Opportunities In Social Media For Management Of Drug And Substance Abuse In Selected Informal Settlements of Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

According to the World Drug Report in 2016, there is an increasing availability of many kinds of drugs to the youth. Researchers have conducted minimal studies on the consequences social media has on Drug and Substance abuse among the youth. This research is a crosssectional descriptive design to analyze the innovations and opportunities in Social Media for management of drug abuse in informal settlements in Nairobi County. The study is based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) where by individuals determine their own behavior and the Community Readiness Model which modifies social contexts to support the desired behavior. The study population was youth within Kayole North, Kayole South and Mukuru kwa Njenga slums. For this study purposive sampling, snowballing and systematic random sampling approaches were adopted. Purposive sampling was used to identify groups for the survey and was generated by focusing on the 32 groups with a membership of 460. The sample size was 210 respondents who were distributed proportionately to the selected study area(s).30 key informants from the study area were recruited. Interview guides were used to collect data from key informants and questionnaires from youth and their leaders. Qualitatively, data was described whereas quantitatively, descriptive statistics including standard deviation and frequency distribution tables were used. Multiple Regression and ANOVA were used to analyze data quantitatively. The researcher summarized the findings from the variables in each objective and the prevention strategies. Marijuana smoking in slums at 73% is the most prevalent. The youth aged 18 to 24 years have the highest levels of drug abuse rates at 73.5%. WhatsApp is the widely used social media at 54%.23.2% of the respondents agreed that social media strategies adopted had effect on prevention of drug and substance abuse in the informal settlements of Nairobi County. Government should encourage youth to use social media in a beneficial manner.