Assessing informal healthcare providers' knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of malaria and diarrhea: evidence from urban informal settlements in Southeast Nigeria
Ifeyinwa Arize, Joy Ozughalu, Bernard Okechi, Chinyere Mbachu, Obinna Onwujekwe, Bassey Ebenso
TL;DR
This study examines the knowledge of informal healthcare providers in Nigeria on treating malaria and diarrhea, finding that training and education improve their effectiveness.
Contribution
The study provides evidence on how training and education can enhance the quality of care provided by informal healthcare providers in urban slums.
Findings
Private medicine vendors and traditional birth attendants showed higher knowledge of treating malaria and diarrhea.
Formal education and on-the-job training significantly improved knowledge of treatment.
Overall knowledge scores for malaria and diarrhea were low among most informal healthcare providers.
Abstract
Despite the availability of effective interventions, malaria and diarrhea continue to be leading causes of disease burden in Nigeria. Informal healthcare providers (IHPs) account for a significant proportion of health service providers in urban slums and may pose a challenge to service quality if they are untrained and unregulated. This study assessed IHPs' knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of malaria and diarrhea. A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted in eight urban informal settlements (slums) in southeast Nigeria. Data were collected from 235 informal health providers using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The mean overall knowledge scores for malaria and diarrhea were 5.2 (95% CI: 4.3–6.1) and 5.4 (95% CI: 4.1–6.7), respectively, among the different IHPs. However, private medicine vendors (PMVs) and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) showed higher…
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Taxonomy
TopicsGlobal Maternal and Child Health · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Antibiotic Use and Resistance