- Title
- An appraisal of strategies to mitigate related to non-communicable diseases of the eye: a case study of Michael Mapongwane Health Clinic in Khayelitsha, Western Cape Metro District
- Creator
- Ngcebetsha, Avela Ayanda
- Subject
- Chronically ill--Care
- Subject
- Ophthalmic nursing
- Date Issued
- 2022-03
- Date
- 2022-03
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22908
- Identifier
- vital:53186
- Description
- Preventive and curative eye-care services are a critical component of care for patients diagnosed with chronic diseases. The South African constitution guarantees health as a fundamental human right of all citizens. While most chronically ill patients are managed at the primary health care centers, eye care services are currently contracted to private service providers. The extent to which people, especially the chronically ill patients, have access to eye-care service under the current structure is less understood. The study aims to establish the effectiveness and sustainability of the eye-care service delivery model at the Michael Mapongwane CHC, with specific reference to access to eye-care services. Specifically, the study examined the rate and determinants of eye-care service utilisation, assess user’s satisfaction and perspectives of primary health workers and private service providers regarding the current structure of eye-care services. The study adopted a descriptive and explanatory design, which involved a survey and semi-structured interviews. The survey was conducted among 423 patients attending the two primary health centers selected for this study. Patients with chronic illness were recruited over a period of one month. Overall, 365 patients with chronic illness and 58 patients without chronic illness took part in the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative date. Purposive sampling was used to select nine health workers and 10 private eye-care service providers for the semi-structured interviews. The data obtained were transcribed and coded. Thematic content analysis was performed on the qualitative data. The results show that less than half of the respondents (n=168) had ever had an eye test, and an even lower proportion (n=115) had had an eye test in the past two years. Age, female sex, formal rural dwelling, marital status, and income were significantly associated with ever having an eye test done. The results reveal a gross inequality in access to eye care test. Only 19.2% of patients diagnosed with hypertension had had their eyes examined. Even fewer proportions of the patients (8.5%) had had their eyes examined during or after diagnosis for hypertension. Likewise, only one in three patients diagnosed with diabetes has had their eyes examined before or after they were diagnosed with diabetes. The majority of patients who had used the services affirmed that it was easy to access eye care services. While most respondents agreed that waiting time to make an appointment was not too long, over half of them affirmed that waiting to see an eye doctor was too long. Most users were reasonably satisfied with the eye care services received. Primary health care providers highlighted challenges such as work overload, poor infrastructure, and patient’s forgetfulness of the appointment dates as factors affecting access to eye care services in their clinic. The primary challenges the private eye-care service providers experienced were small rooms or inappropriate clinic rooms, language barrier and inadequate support from the clinics. In conclusion, this study has shown that access to preventive and curative health care services was among patients attending primary health care centres, and especially those with chronic illness. The current structure of eye care services makes it difficult for patients to access care and for providers to provide quality care.
- Description
- Thesis (MPH) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2022
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xii, 86 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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UFH Department of Nursing Science
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Ngcebetsha_201415821_Mini Dissertation.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |