An Inquiry into the Healthcare Seeking Behaviour of Rural Males in Jamaica during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic
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Abstract
Background: The general attitude and concepts about masculinity in today’s society can often make it hard for men to acknowledge the importance of maintaining and seeking health services before or when a health issue arises. Rural men are portrayed to be resilient, competent and self-reliant and as a result less likely to seek health care assistance. This study seeks to highlight an inquiry into the healthcare seeking behaviour of Rural Males in Jamaica during the Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19).
Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine (1) How do rural males seek healthcare services during the Covid-19 pandemic? (2) How often do rural males in Jamaica seek healthcare services during the COVID pandemic?
Methods: This research employed a cross-sectional and correlational research design. A series of questions were created in Google Forms and distributed to 1096 participants from the 14 parishes in Jamaica. The quantitative data conversion occurred using IBM Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Mac, version 27.0.
Results: The findings revealed that 61.4% (N=673) of the sampled respondents seek healthcare traditionally (medical doctor, pharmacist) and 81.8% (N=897) seek healthcare non-traditionally. 44.5% (N=488) of respondents are in close proximity to a healthcare facility which indicates that since the Covid-19 even within close proximity to healthcare facility, rural males prefer non-traditional routes over traditional routes.
Conclusion: On average rural males seek healthcare only sometimes and the majority utilize home remedy as a form of non-traditional healthcare practice.