Health-seeking behaviour and barriers in accessing medical care among Elderly women in Addis Ababa
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Date
2020-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study was conducted to find out health- seeking behavior of elderly women and their financial coping strategy in Addis Ababa. A qualitative approach was employed to collect and analyze the collected data. Accordingly, in-depth interviews were conducted with 60 elderly women. In addition, key informant interviews were held with ten knowledgeable individuals about the subject under study. The study was started by investigating relevant theories on health-seeking behavior, barriers for health-seeking behavior and coping mechanisms. The study used the health belief model, practice theory, intersectionality theory and buffering social support theory. All these theories validated the findings of the study. The study shows that elderly women are less likely to seek medical treatment unless they are critically ill. It was reported that elderly women who have relatively secured income and pension, who are educated, employed and married have relatively better health seeking behavior than elderly women who don’t have income and pension, who are uneducated, unemployed and widowed. The study also revealed that the majority of the study participants received treatment from modern medical centers, and most of the participants opted to get treated in government hospitals. The participants also used traditional treatments, faith healing practices and homemade remedies to treat their illness. During severe sickness, elderly women used free kebele cards, assistance from community organizations (iddir) and relatives to cover their medical costs. The government and NGOs should provide free health services to elderly women and also teach them about the causes of illness and treatments in order to increase the use of public health services and reduce their vulnerability to unsafe traditional medicine and even ignorance of their diseases. This thesis paper contributes to this task by exploring the problems associated with health- seeking behavior of elderly women.
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Health-seeking behaviour and barriers in accessing medical care among Elderly women in Addis Ababa By: Tensae Deneke