AN EXPLORATION OF PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO HEALTH SERVICES AMONGST OLDER PEOPLE IN BONGO DISTRICT
Keywords:
Health services, access, perceived barriers, Older People.Abstract
Purpose: The research was done to explore perceived barriers to health care services amongst older people in Bongo.
Methodology: Using a qualitative methodology, a case study design was employed in the study. A qualitative approach was chosen because of the need to understand the phenomena of healthcare access from a personal perspective. The study was conducted in Bongo District in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Bongo District has six sub-districts with one hundred and forty three (143) communities and a population of 84,545. People aged 60 and above constitute 9.7% of the population. The District has one District Hospital that serves as a referral center for the sub-districts and neighboring communities from Burkina Faso. Central sub-district was randomly selected for the study using folded pieces of paper. A purposive sampling strategy was used and ten elderly people (aged 60 years or above) were recruited by door-to-door. Individual interviews were conducted using an interview guide. Interview material was transcribed verbatim and coded to be presented as results.
Findings: The findings identified poverty, health insurance, long waiting times at hospital, traditional beliefs, health workers attitude, transportation, and lack of drugs at the health facilities as major barriers to health care access. Respondents prefer the hospital as their first choice of contact when sick but do not necessarily patronize the health facilities partly due to traditional beliefs, trust in herbalists, and poverty.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: From the findings, the researcher recommended that future human resource plan should include training of geriatric nurses and doctors to help address the specific needs of the aged. The health system should strengthen monitoring on quality assurance and quality controls to reduce waiting times and meet minimum pharmacy stock levels. Social support structures especially for the elderly at the community level should be promoted.
Downloads
References
Aboderin I. (2008). Advancing health service provision for age-related non communicable disease and older persons in Africa: Identifying key information and training needs. African Research on Ageing Network (AFRAN), Policy-Research Dialogue, July, 3-18.
Agyemang-Duah, W., Peprah, C., & Peprah, P. (2019). Barriers to formal healthcare utilisation among poor older people under the livelihood empowerment against poverty programme in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of Ghana. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7437-2
Allmark, P. and Tod, A. (2006). How should public health professionals engage with lay epidemiology? J Med Ethics, 32, 460-463.
Andersen, R. (1995). Revisiting the behavioral model and access to medical care: does it matter? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36 (1), 1-10.
Ensor, T. and Cooper, S. (2004) Overcoming barriers to health service access: influencing the Demand side. Health Policy and Planning. 19(2), 69-79. https://doi: 10.1093/heapol/czh009
Biritwum, R., Mensah,G., Yawson, A. & Minicuci, N. (2013). Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE), Wave 1: The Ghana National Report. July, 2-103.
Boutayeb, A, & Boutayeb, S. (2005). The burden of non-communicable diseases in developing countries. International Journal of Equity Health, 4(2).
DeVoe, J., Baez, A., Angier, H., Krois, L., Edlund, C. & Carney, P. (2007) Insurance + Access≠Health Care: Typology of Barriers to Health Care Access for Low-Income Families. Annals of family medicine. 5(6), 511-518.
Exavery, C., Klipstein-Grobusch & Debpuur, C. (2010). Self-Rated health and healthcare utilization among rural elderly Ghanaians in Kassena-Nankana District. http://uaps2011.princeton.edu/papers/110332
Fitzpatrick, A.L, Powe N.R, Cooper, L.S, Ives, D.G, & Robbins, J.A (2004). Barriers to health care access among the elderly and who perceives them. American Journal of Public Health, 94(10), October, 1788-1793.
Frumence, G., Nyamhanga, T., and Anaeli A. (2017). Facilitators and Barriers to Health care Access among the Elderly in Tanzania: A Health System Perspective from Managers and Service Providers. Journal of ageing research and healthcare. June, 1(3), 1-9.
Ghana Health Service (2017). Center for Health Information Management. Ghana Health Service Systems. Accra, Ghana.
Ghana Statistical Service (2013). 2010 Population and Housing Census Report: The Elderly in Ghana. Accra, Ghana.
Jacobs, B., Ir, P., Bigdeli, M., Annear, P., and Van Damme, W. (2011). Addressing access barriers to health services: an analytical framework for selecting appropriate interventions in low-income Asian countries. Health Policy and Planning. May 3, 1-13.
Larbi, R., Ottie-Boakye, D. & Appiah, M. (2015). Access and payment of inpatient healthcare among the aged in Ghana: evidence from the WHO multi-country study. 7th African population conference. Johannesburg, South Africa.
Leeds Beckett University (2016). Research ethics procedures, December, 6-12
Lordos, E., Herrmann, F., Robine, J., Balahoczky, M, Giannelli, S., "¦ Gold, G., et al. (2008). Comparative value of medical diagnosis versus physical functioning in predicting the 6-year survival of 1951 hospitalized old patients. Rejuvenation Res, 11(4), 36-829.
Molete, M., Yengopal, V., and Moorman, J. (2014) Oral health needs and barriers to accessing care among the elderly in Johannesburg. SADJ. September, 68 (8), 352-357.
O'Donnell, O. (2007). Access to health care in developing countries: breaking down demand side barriers. Cad. Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, 23(12), 2820-2834.
Stewart, B., Gyedu, A., Abantanga, F., Abdulai, A., Boakye, G., and Kushner, A. (2015) Barriers to Essential Surgical Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Pilot Study of a Comprehensive Assessment Tool in Ghana. World Journal of Surgery, August. Springer.
Steyn, K., (2006). Hypertension in South African adults: Results from the Demographic and Health Survey 1998. Journal of Hypertension, 19, 1717-1725
Sulemana, A. and Dinye, R. (2014) Access to Healthcare in Rural Communities in Ghana: A Study of Some Selected Communities in the Pru District. European Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 2 (4). 122-131.
United Nations (2007). World Economic and Social Survey 2007: Development in an Ageing World. New York: United Nations publication, V-15.
World Health Organization (2015). World Report on Ageing and Health. Luxemburg, 1-224.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
