STAKEHOLDER’S PERSPECTIVES ON THE ACCESS OF CONTEMPORARY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES BY WOMEN IN RURAL AREAS OF KWARA STATE

Abstract

Rural women face numerous structural, socioeconomic and cultural barriers that prevent them from accessing equitable healthcare services hence calling for a detailed analysis of stakeholder views. This study investigated healthcare accessibility factors for rural women through analysis of opinions from healthcare providers and community leaders along with policymakers and women from target areas. The study adopted exploratory research design. implementing qualitative methods through focus group discussions and semi structured interview guide for data collection. A multistage sampling was adopted to select the sample locations and respondents. 12 communities were purposively selected from the three senatorial districts of Kwara State, Nigeria. A total number of 96 in-depth interviews (IDI), twelve (12) key informant interviews (KII) and 12 focused group discussions (FGDs) sessions were conducted. The data was analyzed using the thematic approach, triangulation and Nvivo. The Health Belief Model (HBM) and Social Determinants of Health (SDH) theory was adopted to analyze the study. The study revealed that most rural women are not educated on reproductive health challenges and exposure to these challenges is linked to illiteracy, poor accessibility to modern telecommunication gadgets, and belief system of rural dwellers. Rural women use combination of traditional and contemporary health care services because of their beliefs and availability of traditional health care services. Rural women's health will advance best through active joint efforts between stakeholders like the government agencies, providers and the key people of their communities. The research results add value to healthcare equity discussions while delivering useful guidance to officials and medical practitioners and development organizations operating within rural areas.