HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS HEALTH PROMOTION AMONG FAMILIES WITH ELDERLY IN ISIALA MBANO LGA IMO STATE

HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS HEALTH PROMOTION AMONG FAMILIES WITH ELDERLY IN ISIALA MBANO LGA IMO STATE

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to find out the health seeking behavior towards health promotion among families with elderly in Isiala Mbano LGA Imo State. To achieve this purpose the ex- post facto research design was used to assess 399 respondents drawn from three clans of Isiala Mbano LGA through stratified sampling technique. A closed ended questionnaire was used to obtain responses from the respondents, 400 copies of questionnaire were distributed to the respondents while 399 copies were received. Data collected for this study were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentage mean and standard deviations and inferential statistics of ANOVA, Scheffe post hoc test and independent t- test. 0.05 level of significance was used for all test of significance. The findings show that age has significant effect in health care seeking behavior among the aged group in Isiala Mbano LGA Imo State and poor health care seeking behavior is present among age 80 years and above compared to 60 – 64 and 70 – 74 years respectively. It was concluded that age is a significant factor in decreasing healthcare seeking behavior among the aged in Isiala Mbano LGA. It was recommended that the government should embark on massive enlightenment programes for the aged in other to educate them and encourage them on health services available to them and also seek them when needed. Cost reduction and disease management should also be considered.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT               1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION        

Background to the Study        5

Statement of the Problem       6

Research Objectives   7

Research Questions    8

Significance of the Study       8

Scope and Limitation of the Study     9

Operational Definition of Terms        10

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE     

Introduction    11

Concept of Aging       11

Concept of Health Care          12

Health Care Seeking Behavior Among the Aged      15

Awareness of Health Care Service Among the Aged Persons           17

Practice of The Aged Persons towards Health Care  18

Health Problems Associated with Ageing     20

Theoretical Framework on Health Care Seeking Behavior among the Aged            23

Empirical Studies on Health Care Seeking Behavior                        31

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY  

Introduction    34

Research Design         34

Population of the Study          35

Sample and Sampling Techniques     35

Instrumentation          36

Validation of the Instrument  36

Procedure for Data Collection           36

Procedure for Data Analysis  37

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction    39

Results                        39

Test of hypotheses      46

Discussion of Findings           53

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION       

Summary        57

Conclusions    58

Recommendations      59

REFERENCES         60

APPENDIX    73

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Aging refers to a lifelong process and varies in its effect on individuals, and as commonly defined as beginning at the age of 65 (Hess, 2008). Aging is a process of becoming older, it represent the accumulation of changes in person overtime (Bowen, Richard, Atwood, & Craig 2004). Aging is the gradual change in the structure of any organism that occur in the passage of time, that does not result from disease or other gross accidents and that eventually lead to the increased probability of death as the individual grows older (Miller 2003).

HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS HEALTH PROMOTION AMONG FAMILIES WITH ELDERLY IN ISIALA MBANO LGA IMO STATE