A qualitative description of primary health care patients’ perspectives on factors influencing demand for rehabilitation in Zimbabwe
Creators: name: Charumbira, Maria Yvonne
name: Kaseke, Farayi
name: Berner, Karina
name: Louw, Quinette Abegail
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy
subject: Mental Health

description: 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. 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<sup>®</sup>. 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. 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. Identifying factors influencing rehabilitation demand by adult primary health care patients in low-resource settings is a first step in developing strategies to increase access to quality services for underserved populations.Conducting patient education initiatives to increase awareness and understanding of rehabilitation may incite the patients to perceive their need for and actively seek rehabilitation services through their primary care providers.Primary care providers need to be provided with the knowledge on the scope and benefits of rehabilitation to enable identification of patients with functioning problems and adequate referral to rehabilitation.Prioritising financial investment to strengthen the primary healthcare systems in which rehabilitation is to be nested will create a solid foundation for integrating rehabilitation services.Meanwhile, there is need to develop cost-effective interventions that may bring rehabilitation services closer to patients’ homes, ensuring accessibility even in remote areas. Identifying factors influencing rehabilitation demand by adult primary health care patients in low-resource settings is a first step in developing strategies to increase access to quality services for underserved populations. Conducting patient education initiatives to increase awareness and understanding of rehabilitation may incite the patients to perceive their need for and actively seek rehabilitation services through their primary care providers. Primary care providers need to be provided with the knowledge on the scope and benefits of rehabilitation to enable identification of patients with functioning problems and adequate referral to rehabilitation. Prioritising financial investment to strengthen the primary healthcare systems in which rehabilitation is to be nested will create a solid foundation for integrating rehabilitation services. Meanwhile, there is need to develop cost-effective interventions that may bring rehabilitation services closer to patients’ homes, ensuring accessibility even in remote areas.