A qualitative description of primary health care patients' perspectives on factors influencing demand for rehabilitation in Zimbabwe.

Purpose: Although the need for rehabilitation is increasing in Zimbabwe, rehabilitation remains undervalued. Currently, Zimbabwe struggles to provide rehabilitation services at primary health care. To justify the need for establishing rehabilitation at this level of care, the demand for these services needs to be understood. This study describes the factors influencing the demand for rehabilitation by adults attending primary healthcare in Zimbabwe.

Materials and methods: The study used a qualitative descriptive approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 purposefully selected patients in the Shona language and audio recorded. Transcribed data were translated and back-translated. Thematic analysis was done using Atlas.ti. version 22.2^®.

Results: Most patients at primary health care were not actively seeking nor were they able to utilise rehabilitation services because of several factors. The factors identified from the patients' responses were categorised into (i) patient and family-, (ii) healthcare professional-, and (iii) health system-related factors. Key factors included rehabilitation awareness and availability of rehabilitation.

Conclusion: The identified factors may inform rehabilitation service and policy planners in improving primary health care patients' access to rehabilitation in similar low-resource settings. Future studies may determine how the identified factors may be addressed to ensure that high need translates to high demand.