Assessing Perceived Service Quality and Satisfaction among Elderly Recipients of Free Health Services in Dodoma, Tanzania: A SERVQUAL Approach

Aims: This study aimed at assessing the perceived quality of free health services and satisfaction amongst elderly people. Study Design: Cross-sectional research design was employed. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted in Dodoma District, Tanzania from September – November 2023. Methodology: A cross-sectional design was adopted in the study. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 134 elderly from the study area. Data was collected using questionnaires through interviews. The SERVQUAL model was employed, looking at the gap score of five dimensions (tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy). Data were analysed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences Statistics software. Results: Majority (57.5%) of elders are aware of free health services and 66.4% of them accessed services. Elderly’s perceptions were lower than their expectations (gap = -1.70). Gaps for five dimensions of SERVQUAL model were: Tangibles (−2.21), reliability (−1.96), responsiveness (-1.76), assurance (-1.31) and empathy (-1.37).  Conclusion: Due to a negative overall mean score and the negative scores from all dimensions, it implies that the quality of free health services for elderly people in Dodoma district has not been satisfying to patients and needs to be improved.