Barriers to formal healthcare utilisation among poor older people under the livelihood empowerment against poverty programme in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of Ghana

AGYEMANG-DUAH, Williams, PEPRAH, Charles and PEPRAH, Prince (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), p. 1185.

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Open Access URL: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles... (Published version)
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7437-2

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Even though there is a growing literature on barriers to formal healthcare use among older people, little is known from the perspective of vulnerable older people in Ghana. Involving poor older people under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, this study explores barriers to formal healthcare use in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of Ghana. Methods: Interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 30 poor older people, 15 caregivers and 15 formal healthcare providers in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of Ghana. Data were analysed using the thematic analytical framework, and presented based on an a posteriori inductive reduction approach. Results: Four main barriers to formal healthcare use were identified: physical accessibility barriers (poor transport system and poor architecture of facilities), economic barriers (low income coupled with high charges, and non-comprehensive nature of the National Health Insurance Scheme [NHIS]), social barriers (communication/language difficulties and poor family support) and unfriendly nature of healthcare environment barriers (poor attitude of healthcare providers). Conclusions: Considering these barriers, removing them would require concerted efforts and substantial financial investment by stakeholders. We argue that improvement in rural transport services, implementation of free healthcare for poor older people, strengthening of family support systems, recruitment of language translators at the health facilities and establishment of attitudinal change programmes would lessen barriers to formal healthcare use among poor older people. This study has implications for health equity and health policy framework in Ghana.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: ** From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ **Journal IDs: eissn 1471-2458 **Article IDs: publisher-id: s12889-019-7437-2; manuscript: 7437 **History: collection 12-2019; online 28-08-2019; published_online 28-08-2019; accepted 02-08-2019; registration 02-08-2019; submitted 01-02-2019
Uncontrolled Keywords: Research Article, Health behavior, health promotion and society, Barriers, Formal healthcare, Formal healthcare utilisation, Older person, Ghana
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7437-2
Page Range: p. 1185
SWORD Depositor: Colin Knott
Depositing User: Colin Knott
Date Deposited: 28 Aug 2020 10:16
Last Modified: 17 Mar 2021 23:30
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27098

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