1.1 Introduction
Interpersonal communication is referred to as a person-to-person interaction or dialogue by means of oral verbalization or use of signs commonly understandable by parties concerned. This type of communication of communication can be illustrated by any conversation between two people (Ndidi, 2005). In this process the channel of communication is the voice, as it is carried through the air and has its destination is to the person who receives the message, when the receiver of the message responds either verbally or non- verbally, there is a feedback and this feedback completes the process of communication. It is also the feedback given in form of verbal and non verbal cues and the person participating in this type of face to face communication can utilize words as well as gestures and other non verbal cues to indicate that messages are being clearly received and understood.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
The persistent rise in maternal health of expectant, infant and child morbidity and mortality demand improved healthcare which does not pertain to coverage of health services alone. Recently, there is a growing interest in the quality of healthcare services provided. The health issues of pregnant women, mothers, infants and children cannot be addressed without due attention to quality of care (QoC) for the simple reason that the healthcare services will not be effective, efficient, acceptable and safe. However, it is not easy to conceptualize QoC and there are several definitions.
Avedis Donabedian, a pioneer in introducing QoC into the health system, defined QoC as: that kind of care which is expected to maximize an inclusive measure of patient welfare, after one has taken account of the balance of expected gains and losses that attend the process of care in all its parts.
The WHO provides a framework of organisational management strategies to improve QoC in order to help the healthcare system achieve its desired goals. This is a general framework which suggests that overall the health systems should focus on improving six domains of organisational management strategies to improve QoC—information, leadership, engagement with patients and population, use of regulation and standards, developing organisational capacity and models of care.
However, it is not known to what extent the current global issues in improving QoC for maternal, newborn and child health fit into the WHO framework. The objective of this study was to conduct a global situational analysis to identify the current facilitators and barriers to improving QoC for pregnant women, newborns and children with respect to the WHO's quality improvement framework.
Simply by their presence, the interpersonal communication has the nature of societal communication norms. Large audiences have been created, that expect the media to provide continuous flow of news, entertainment, political commentary, and other types of messages. The people depend on the media for various forms of gratification based on content. If denied such communication, they will feel deprived (Berelson 1950:889). Even in relatively underdeveloped societies, population quickly develops media related habits, once mass communication becomes available in a form they understand.
Initially, the United Nations Organization (UNO) through its agency the World Health Organization (WHO) has championed the publicity and propaganda campaign for the introduction and acceptance of the modern agitations and clamoring against it.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Role of Interpersonal Communication on Maternal Health of Expectant Mothers.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that although it is truism that the term maternal health is not unknown to many Nigerians, there is still need to clearly define the concept. So the problems this project sets out to study will focus on:
- Information includes an information system in any shape and form (papers, checklists to computer-aided prompts) that enables service providers to deliver standard best practices and help patients and communities to manage their own health.
- Patient and population engagement is described as central to quality improvement strategies because, ‘either directly or indirectly, they will be financing care, they will be working in partnership with health workers to manage their own care and they will sometimes be the final arbiter of what is acceptable and what is not across all the dimensions of quality'. etc.
- Regulations and standards based on evidence of best practices are required to be adhered to in order to improve the performance of the health system. They are the means for checking the credibility of the healthcare system and thus are usually monitored by an agency external to the health system. These agencies could be governmental or non-governmental, but their role is to inspect and accredit the healthcare systems.
- Organisational capacity is the fifth domain and ‘issues of quality within this domain apply throughout the health system' from the organisation and structure of the healthcare system to the knowledge and capacity of the service providers. This is suggested to be the interface at which providers and users interact and directly experience QoC-related issues.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Role of Interpersonal Communication on Maternal Health of Expectant Mothers using some Selected Hospitals in Owerri as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine the extent to which interpersonal communication helps in maternal health of expectant mothers in Owerri;
- To know the ability to improve the health care of pregnant women in owerri;
- To help them know more about change in their system and suggest ways of it practice;
- To induce couples to change their behavior to expectant mothers; and
- To find out if they are really getting information (exposure) at their level of education.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Are they are really getting information (exposure) at their level of education?
- Can health care of pregnant women in owerri be improved through interpersonal communication?
- Do couples have negative attitude towards expectant mothers?
- To what extent does interpersonal communication helps in maternal health of expectant mothers in Owerri?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There is no significant relationship between educational level of expectant mothers and their utilization of interpersonal communication.
- H1: There is significant relationship between educational level of expectant mothers and their utilization of interpersonal communication
Hypothesis Two
- H0: Interpersonal communication does not help in maternal health of expectant mothers in Owerri
- H1: Interpersonal communication helps in maternal health of expectant mothers in Owerri
1.7 Significance of Study
The study will help the ministry of health in Nigeria to determine which media to employ in dissemination of pregnant mothers health care information. The outcome of this study will alert the parents' population on dangers inherent in misinformation based on expectant mothers and equally contribute to existing write-ups (literature) in the area of interpersonal communication.
Above all, it is hoped that the study will further equip media practitioners, communication experts and researchers to come up with a more concrete approach to covering all manners of campaigns without much ado (delay) in Nigeria.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Role of Interpersonal Communication on Maternal Health of Expectant Mothers using some Selected Hospitals in Owerri as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Accessibility to Hospitals: in the average situation of things, an average young woman is viewed by some parents with suspicious and skepticism.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Interpersonal Communication: Is an exchange of information between two or more people. It is also an area of study. Communication skills are developed and may be enhanced or improved with increased knowledge and practice.
Media Coverage: This is the reportage of expectants mothers’ health care through television, radio, newspaper (media).
