Perception of Old People on Healthcare Services Provided in Public Hospitals in Tanzania: The Case of Kasulu District, Tanzania

Abstract

revealed that; patient’s perception has an influence on accessibility to healthcare services. When healthcare services are perceived positively by patients, it acts as a motivating factor to seek healthcare services under that facility. However,factors such as lack of medicine, few medical staff, long waiting hours to access medical care negatively limit accessibility to such services. Tanzania like the rest of the developing countries, old people are not immune from these challenges. Evidence from empirical review indicate that public healthcare provision to old people is constrained by number of factors such as poor Abstract: The concept of Perception in the discourse of healthcare setting is increasingly becoming an important aspect in determining the quality of services provided to patients.The main objective of this study was toassess perception of old people on healthcare services provided in public hospitals in Tanzania. The study was conducted in Kasulu district in Kigoma region covering two wards of Murubona and Rusesa using cross sectional case study design informed by positivist paradigm as one of the philosophical assumptions. The total number of participants engaged in this study was 57. These included 48 old people, 2 Nurses, 3 Medical Doctors, 1 District Medical Doctor (DMO) and 3 Health Social Workers. Data were collected using in-depth interview, focus group discussion and observation. Qualitative data was analyzed by using thematic method. Study findings revealed that old people had negative perception on the quality of healthcare services provided in public hospitals. Lack of medicine and medical equipment, inadequate number of health workers, discrimination by health workers were the main obstacles that made old people to perceive negatively on the quality of healthcare services provided in public hospitals.The study strongly recommends that health workers’ trainings should be integrated with customer care and social skills for caringold people;health workers to abide to professional ethics and the governments to equip public hospitals with medicine and adequate number of gerontology and geriatricians who will provide specialized medical and social care.