1.1 Introduction
The choice of health facility varies from one person to another and from one place to another, and it also depends on certain predisposing factors to the use of health facilities (Oluyemi et al., 2018). Actual utilization of health services will differ in accordance with various factors. Hence, when a country is not interested in merely providing physical access, but also in ensuring that modern health services are used by the population, it becomes important for such country to also understand the factors affecting health care utilization. Although there may be health centers in some rural area, access to care might be impeded by other barriers. One is inadequate transportation, either because travel time is excessive, because no public transportation is available (MACPAC, 2016; NCHS, 2016).
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
Over the past health workers have been contributing immensely to the primary prevention of disease in both community and health facilities with emphasis on the front-line health workers, these are the health care providers that are available to cater for the immediate health need of the patients, according to (Agyeponget al. 2001) the Interventions to improve quality and responsiveness in healthcare have centered on professionals and frontline workers without recourse to a total system reform. According to (Kavita Patel et al March 2014) described frontline health workers as these individuals often serve as the initial point of contact and/or ongoing peer support for patients and caregivers throughout their health care experience, in other words according to the Frontline Health Workers Coalition, “They are often based in the community and come from the community they serve, they play a critical role in providing a local context for proven health solutions, and they connect families and communities to the health system. They are the first and often the only link to health care for millions of people, are relatively inexpensive to train and support, and are capable of providing many life-saving interventions”. Most of which are the community health workers and midwives, though they can also include local pharmacists, nurses and doctors who serve in community clinics near people in need.
Carrasquillo (2013) stated that utilization is often reported as the number of services used over a period of time divided by the population denominator. Or the percentage of persons who use a certain service divided by individuals eligible to use the service. Oladipo (2014) stated that within the developing countries, differences in health status exist, based on indices such as infant mortality, young and child mortality and maternal mortality. Serious attention is required in improving quality of healthcare services to enhance it utilization, the study therefore seek to investigate the socio-economic factors that affect the utilization of health care services by inhabitants of rural areas of Bauchi State.
Health Care Utilization according to Carrasquillo (2013) is “the quantification or description of the use of services by persons for the purpose of preventing and curing health problems, promoting maintenance of health and well- being, or obtaining information about one’s health status and prognosis. It refers to the use of health care services. Utilization can be described as the use or amount usage per unit population of health services. It stated that in health care, utilization is defined as “the consumption of services or supplies such as the number of office visit a person makes per year with a health care provider, the number of prescription made or the number of days a person is hospitalized.
As most of the women are faced with health challenges example includes asymmetry of information or lack of information, access to health facilities or distance, attitudes of health care workers and or sometime frontline health workers etc predisposed them to high maternal mortality which is the main causes of death in developing countries with reference to Nigeria, According to WHO Maternal mortality Fact sheet N°348 Updated May 2014Maternal mortality is a complication that occurs on a woman during pregnancy and child birth that contributed to the high rate of death among women and children. According to World Health Statistics 2014 Geneva, World Health Organization; 2014“Maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes”. But according to the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) defines a maternal death as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.
Therefore, in Bauchi where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Utilization Research Finding in Decision Making among Health Care Workers.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation reveals that health workers are the first point of call for any one accessing health services in the health facilities. There is need to understand the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of the front-line health workers in the society. Though access to primary health care for under five years is almost free and easily accessible within the Primary Health Care centers and Gen Hospitals in Bauchi state. According to TSHIP Annual report, Bauchi October 2010 Poor service provision and reinforcement of knowledge on effectiveness and ineffectiveness of front-line health workers has contributed in determining better health outcomes for maternal health in Alkaleri LGA, Bauchi State.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Utilization Research Finding in Decision Making among Health Care Workers in Bauchi. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine the socio-economic factors that necessitate the utilization of health care services by rural dwellers of Bauchi State,
- To assess the effectiveness of front-line health care workers in reducing maternal mortality in Giade District.
- To examine the ineffectiveness of front-line health care workers in preventing maternal mortality in Giade District.
- To help Human Resource for health determine better health outcomes for maternal health in Giade District, Bauchi State.
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:
- Can Human Resource assist in determining the health outcomes for maternal health in Giade District, Bauchi State?
- What is the effectiveness of front-line health care workers in reducing maternal mortality in Giade LGA?
- What is the ineffectiveness of front-line health care workers in preventing maternal mortality in Giade LGA?
- What are the socio-economic factors that necessitate the utilization of health care services by rural dwellers of Bauchi State?
