“It’s not easy to acknowledge that I’m ill”: a qualitative investigation into the health seeking behavior of rural Palestinian women

BMC Women's Health

Research Article

Manuela De Allegri¹  Majed Nassar²  Linda Majaj³ 

[1] Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;Medical Aid for Palestinians Ramallah West Bank occupied Palestinian territory, West Bank, Bethlehem, USA;UNICEF Bethlehem, West Bank occupied Palestinian territory, Heidelberg, Germany;

关键词: Occupied Palestinian territories (oPt);    Women’s health;    Health seeking;    Andersen model;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6874-13-26

 received in 2012-03-12, accepted in 2013-04-05,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThis qualitative study sets to fill a gap in knowledge by exploring the health seeking behaviour of rural women living in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). The existing literature on the oPt has so far focused on unravelling the country’s epidemiological and health system profile, but has largely neglected the assessment of factors shaping people’s decisions on health care use.MethodsBased on a conceptual framework rooted in the Anderson behavioural model, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with purposely selected women and seven key informant interviews in three purposely selected villages in Ramallah district.ResultsOur findings indicate that women delay seeking professional care, use self-prescribed medications and home treatment, and do not use preventive and educational health services. Their health seeking behaviour is the result of the interplay of several factors: their gendered socio-cultural role; their health beliefs; financial affordability and geographical accessibility; their perceptions of the quality of care; and their perceived health needs.ConclusionsFindings are discussed in the light of their policy implications, suggesting that adequate health policy planning ought to take into considerations socio-cultural dimensions beyond those directly pertinent to the health care system.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Majaj et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013