Barriers To Meeting The Primary Health Care Information Needs Of Rural Women In Enugu State, Nigeria, West Africa.

Abstract

This paper is just a This paper is designed to investigate the barriers to meeting the primary health care information needs of rural women in Enugu state of Nigeria. The design adopted for the study was descriptive survey research design. One research question guided the study. The study was carried out in Enugu state of Nigeria. The population for the study was one hundred and seven (107) doctors and nurses from the rural communities in the nine (9), local government areas used for the study. In addition 108 rural women used for the study constituted the sample for the study. Questionnaire of 4-point response scale and focus group discussion schedule were developed by the researcher and used for data collection. The instruments were validated by three experts in the field of study. Split-half technique and Pearson product moment correlation method were used for the internal consistency reliability which yielded a coefficient value of 0.76. The data generated were analyzed using frequency table and mean to answer the research question. It was found out that government in sensitivity to rural dweller’s needs, ignorance of the women about the existence and importance of primary health care and illiteracy are some of the barriers to meeting the primary health care information needs. It was therefore recommended that more health institutions and personnel should be provided in the rural areas and rural women should be sensitized on the need and importance of primary health care services and deliveries. Mobile health library and health information materials and services should be provided for rural dwellers.

Keywords: Barriers, Health, Primary health care, primary health care information and rural women.