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
ABSTRACTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTIONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â
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 LITERATUREÂ
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 ANALYSISÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Introduction   39
Results                      39
Test of hypotheses     46
Discussion of Findings          53
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â
Summary        57
Conclusions    58
Recommendations     59
REFERENCESÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â 60
APPENDIXÂ Â 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).
However, Ageing has become a global phenomenon and indeed a critical policy issue receiving some recognition by governments of developed countries where it is reflected in the government‘s vital document of economic and social development strategy (Okoye 2013). Furthermore, globally, the greatest increase in the number of older people is occurring in the developing and middle income countries. Nigeria is not an exception. Nigeria still has a relatively ―young‖ population when compared to most European countries and other countries where life expectancy is high. However, as medical advances allow people to live longer, the proportion of the elderly will increase in Nigeria (Okoye, 2013).
United Nations Department of Economics and New York Special Affairs Populations Division (2005) observe that the population of Nigerians aged 60 years and above is already increasing. United Nation‘s population profile (2005), shows that there were 5 million Nigerians aged 60 years and above in 2005 and the number will continue to increase by year 2025, it is estimated that 6% of the population will be 60years and above. Abdulraheem (2007) states that it may be necessary for policy makers to consider establishing neighborhood adult day care centres where elderly persons can meet each other during the day. Other services like medical, nutritional, recreational and educational services can also be incorporated into the neighborhood day care centres ( Okoye, 2013). The use of adult day care centers has been reported by many scholars to be very advantageous to elderly persons and their families.
