Utilization of western and traditional healthcare services by farm families in Ukwa-East local government area of Abia state, Nigeria

Abstract

The relationship between farmers’ health and agricultural productivity has been established in literature. The study assessed utilization of Western and Traditional healthcare services by farm- families in Ukwa-East Local Government of Abia State. The population of study comprised all farm-families in the 19 Community that make up the study area. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select 133 male and female farm-family heads who served as the sample for the study. Structured interview schedule was used for data collection. Research data were analyzed with the aid of descriptive statistics (such as mean, ranking and percentages). Among others, it was found that the illnesses/diseases that were prevalent in the study area were related to occupational hazard-induced conditions such as acute headache, waist pains, injuries and inadequate hygiene-related illnesses (such as typhoid fever and malaria) . While very few respondents use Western health care services, majority (80.4%) usually combine Traditional and Western health care services. Most respondent accessed information on Western health care services from families/friends and neighbours whereas information about Traditional health care services reached farm-families through combined efforts of family/friends and neighbours, radio and television programmes and itinerant Traditional medicine hawkers. Respondents were not in doubts about the beneficial effects of utilizing Western over Traditional health care service, their major problems with it were the high costs, time wastage, grossly inadequate primary health care facilities. It was recommended that Government improve Primary Health Care facilities, subsidize cost of drugs and services to farm families while implementing drudgery-reduction intervention programmes that would reduce occupational hazard-induced ill-health or diseases among the farm families. The Agricultural Extension service should be re-positioned with a view to making it more responsive to the pertinent needs of health education, while mounting vigorous awareness campaign against the use of unregulated traditional health care services.

Keywords: Traditional healthcare, Western healthcare, farmers, disease