Health information-seeking behavior of women in rural Swaziland

This study explored the health information seeking behavior of women who reside and work within Ludzeludze, Kabhudla and Maliyaduma which are rural communities located in the Manzini administrative region in Swaziland.;The study addressed six research questions: (1) What are the health information needs of women who reside and work within the three communities under investigation? (2) What information sources/providers do the women consult in the process of seeking health information to resolve their health problems? (3) How do the women make use of the information they obtain when it is made available to them?; (4) What role does the public library play in the provision of health information to the women who reside or work within these communities?; (5) What factors in their circumstances hinder the process of health information seeking?; (6) How is health information seeking related to selected demographics?;Data were collected through a self administered questionnaire and structured interview protocol from a sample of ten health workers and ninety women. Data were presented in the form of descriptive statistics. The major findings of the study showed that: (1) The women and health care workers who reside and work within the target communities have a variety of health information needs. The health information needs of the women include: the cause of illness, directional/advisory needs, finance, and cure/preventive measures to take in order to avoid recurrence of the illness. The health workers information needs focussed on how to communicate convincing health messages to individual patients and communities. (2) Most of the women obtain health information from a variety of information providers through interpersonal communication. The level of satisfaction with the different sources of information varies from complete satisfaction to dissatisfaction. (3) The health information obtained from the various sources is used in a variety of ways which are closely linked with the information needs of the sample under study. (4) The public library is not used to obtain health information. One of the reasons for nonuse of the public library is lack of awareness about the library services and the perception that the library is a service exclusively designed to serve the educated. As presently operated the library does not meet the health information needs of the women. (5) In their health information seeking process the women encounter several barriers such as, level of education which limits their access to print based sources; the cost of batteries the lack of electricity limits their use of radio and television. Poor communication between health provider and patient was another barrier which limits their access to health information. (6) The demographic variables of age, level of education, income, distance from health providers, membership in organizations, are correlated with the choice of information provider and level of satisfaction with the provider. However these correlations which were determined at an alpha level of.05 are either low or moderate.