Psychosocial issues reported in the Kenyan print media: a case study of Embu, Tharaka-Nithi and Meru counties

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are defined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, offer an opportunity to achieve the commitments on the prevention of most harmful psychosocial issues facing humanity in the twenty first century. This paper sought to identify and analyze the psychosocial challenges that can hinder the attainment of sustainable development in Embu, Tharaka-Nithi and Meru Counties. The study identified the psychosocial issues reported in the three Counties, the trends and types, their prevalence in each of the three counties per month, relevant policies in place, and their impact on development and recommended mitigation measures. The study used archival research method whereby data was collected from already existing records from two local dailies Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers1

for the period between June 2015 to June 2016. Psychosocial issues reported from the three counties were systematically recorded using written document analysis worksheet tool where issues were listed as per newspaper, date and county. Each of the reported psychosocial issue was analyzed as per thematic area. The trends in terms of types of psychosocial issues reported and frequency of occurrence was identified and analyzed per month and County. Discussion of findings related the theoretical explanations in literature to the psychosocial challenges reported in the three Counties. It is anticipated that the findings would be of interest to the County Governments of the said Counties and would help inform policy and County development planning.