open access publication

Article, 2024

Care seeking for childhood illnesses in rural Mtwara, south-east Tanzania: a mixed methods study

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, ISSN 1878-3503, 0035-9203, Volume 118, 7, Pages 465-473, 10.1093/trstmh/trae022

Contributors

Mshamu, Salum (Corresponding author) [1] [2] Meta, Judith [3] Sanga, Casiana [1] Day, Nicholas Philip John 0000-0003-2309-1171 [2] [4] Mukaka, Mavuto Francis Juba 0000-0002-5036-6583 [2] [4] Adhikari, Bipin 0000-0001-8981-3910 [2] [4] Deen, Jacqueline L 0000-0001-8875-5026 [5] Knudsen, Jakob Brandtberg 0000-0002-5348-8439 [6] Pell, Christopher L 0000-0001-9405-5851 [7] [8] [9] Von Seidlein, Lorenz 0000-0002-0282-6469 [2] [4]

Affiliations

  1. [1] CSK Research Solutions, Mtwara, Tanzania
    2. [NORA names: Miscellaneous; Tanzania; Africa];
  2. [2] University of Oxford
    3. [NORA names: United Kingdom; Europe, Non-EU; OECD];
  3. [3] Private Consultant, Social Scientist
  4. [4] Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit
    5. [NORA names: Thailand; Asia, South];
  5. [5] University of the Philippines Manila
    6. [NORA names: Philippines; Asia, South];

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Care seeking was assessed in preparation for a study of the health impact of novel design houses in rural Mtwara, Tanzania. METHODS: A total of 578 residents of 60 villages participated in this mixed-methods study from April to August 2020. Among them, 550 participated in a healthcare-seeking survey, 17 in in-depth interviews and 28 in key informant interviews. RESULTS: The decision to seek care was based on symptom severity (95.4% [370]). Caregivers first visited non-allopathic healthcare providers or were treated at home, which led to delays in seeking care at healthcare facilities. More than one-third (36.0% [140]) of respondents took >12 h seeking care at healthcare facilities. The majority (73.0% [282]) visited healthcare facilities, whereas around one-fifth (21.0% [80]) sought care at drug stores. Treatment costs deterred respondents from visiting healthcare facilities (61.4% [338]). Only 10 (3.6%) of the households surveyed reported that they were covered by health insurance. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of care, related to institutional factors, impacts timely care seeking for childhood illnesses in Mtwara, Tanzania. Ensuring accessibility of facilities is therefore not sufficient.

Keywords

Mtwara, Tanzania, access, accessibility of facilities, care, care-seeking, caregivers, childhood, childhood illnesses, cost, delay, design houses, drug, drug stores, facilities, factors, health, health impacts, health insurance, healthcare, healthcare facilities, healthcare providers, home, households, housing, illness, informant interviews, information, institutional factors, insurance, interviews, mixed-methods study, preparation, providers, quality, quality of care, residents, respondents, seeking, seeking care, severity, south-east Tanzania, stores, study, survey, symptom severity, symptoms, timely care, treatment, treatment costs, village, visiting healthcare facilities

Data Provider: Digital Science

LINKS
-

Matching Records in NORA

SUBJECTS
+

METRICS
+