Healthcare Provider-Patient Communication and its Effect on the Utilisation of Antenatal Care Services in Mulago National Referral Hospital.

Abstract

NAUMA ROSE (2009-M033-20024) Healthcare Provider-Patient Communication and its Effect on the Utilisation of Antenatal Care Services in Mulago National Referral Hospital. The way healthcare providers communicate has been linked to proximate outcomes such as patient satisfaction and recall and to final outcomes, such as client compliance with treatment regimes and improved health results. The study examined healthcare provider-patient communication and its effectiveness on utilisation of Antenatal Care (ANC) services at Mulago national referral hospital. The specific objectives of this study were to examine the utilisation of antenatal care services at the antenatal care clinic of Mulago hospital, assess the communication between healthcare providers and the patients on utilisation of antenatal care services, examine the effect of healthcare provider-patient communication skills on patients‟ utilisation of antenatal care services at the antenatal care clinic of Mulago hospital and assess the quality of healthcare provider-patient communication on patients‟ utilisation of antenatal care services. This was a cross-sectional study conducted using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies with a sample size of 100 pregnant mothers attending ANC and 20 healthcare providers at the ANC clinic drawn from 2 study sites namely Upper Mulago (ward 14) and Lower Mulago (5th floor). The tools that were used for data collection included structured observation checklist for provider behaviour, self-assessment checklist for health provider interaction and an in-depth interview guide consisting of both open-ended and close-ended questions. Quantitative data analysis involved frequencies, percentages and correlations while qualitative data analysis involved a thematic approach. The results of the study established that there were instances in which patients‟ utilisation of antenatal care services was satisfactory and instances in which it was unsatisfactory. Additionally, communication between healthcare providers and patients on utilisation of antenatal care services at Mulago hospital was very good. The conclusion of the study was that, there was a positive correlation between healthcare provider-patient communication and utilisation of antenatal services whereby better and more health care provider-patient communication was related to better and more utilisation of antenatal services and vice versa. Key Words: Healthcare Provider, Patient Communication, Utilisation, Antenatal Care Services, Mulago National Referral Hospital.