Household Access to Public Primary Healthcare Facilities in Nakuru Town - Kenya

Abstract

Nakuru town has a restricted utilizable primary healthcare services for its people. Hence, patients die from illnesses which there is a cure and communities are affected by many diseases which are healable. This has contributed to the affrication of many avoidable illnesses. This study assessed the households’ access of public primary healthcare facilities in Nakuru town. The main objective of this study is to reduce preventable morbidity and mortality in Kenya by improving levels of household access to and utilization of available primary health care services. The researcher involved a descriptive cross-sectional survey, health facility evaluation survey, and a key informant interview. A sample of 400 households was picked from the eleven wards in Nakuru town. Data was collected using a standard household questionnaire, healthcare facility evaluation schedule, and key informants, interview schedule. Various descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyse the data. These were; chi-square test and logistic regression. Logistic regression results revealed that the major correlates of utilization of public PHC among households in Nakuru Town are; age of household (P<0.5); household of income (P<0.01); gender of household head (P<0.01); household heads’ of schooling (P<0.5); households head’s occupation (P<0.01) and household monthly income (P<0.01) were important factors that influence access and utilization of public PHC facilities in Nakuru Town. Within the study area, the PHC facilities have inadequate staff and drugs. The ratio of healthcare personnel to population was low at 1:10,020. The distribution of healthcare facilities in the study area is uneven; some wards such Kivumbini, Flamingo and Kaptembwo had no public PHC facility. The disparity in the distribution of healthcare facilities in the study implies disparities in the access and utilization of public primary health care facilities by the population within the town. There is therefore need to improve access and utilization of public primary health care facilities in all the wards in Nakuru town. Finally, there is need for the County Government of Nakuru to employ more staff and build more public PHC facilities using population threshold yardstick.