KNOWLEDGE OF AGED-RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS AND HEALTH CARESEEKING BEHAVIOUR AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN EKIADOLOR COMMUNITY, EDO STATE

Abstract

This study assessed the knowledge of aged related health problems and health care-seeking behaviour among older adults in Ekiadolor Community, Edo State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and the population of the study comprised of six hundred and ninety two (692) aged people within Ekiadolor Community. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit 253 respondents for the study. A Self-constructed questionnaire was used for the collection of data. The research instrument was content validated and a reliability coefficient of 0.74 was obtained using the test-retest reliability method. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, standard deviation, percentages, chart and mean. Findings from the study revealed that majority (52.17%) of respondents reported a low level of knowledge of age-related health problems among older adults in Ekiadolor Community. Also,findings revealed that the healthcare seeking behaviours of older adults in Ekiadolor community are influenced by the quality of care, lack of trust in healthcare providers past experiences, lack of family and social support, perceived severity of the illness, cultural and social norms towards certain illnesses and financial status. Findings also showed that diabetes, mobility issues, and vision and hearing loss are recognized as major health-related problems among older adults in Ekiadolor Community. It was concluded that limited knowledge of age-related health problems negatively impacted the healthcare-seeking
behaviours of older adults. The establishment of community-based health education programmes specifically designed for older adults was recommended based on the findings.