Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Michael Knight

Abstract

Abstract

Healthcare policies are complex health promotion strategies used by healthcare policy

designers to create awareness, educate, and develop the capacity of sustainable health

promotion practices in rural communities. The purpose of this phenomenological study

was to investigate an occurrence being experience by rural residents in the NWR of

Cameroon where residents lacked nearby healthcare clinics where they can seek medical

treatment and to determine if there were any funding policy requirements for the

construction of new rural community clinics at the NW Regional Delegation of Public

Health. Using Wright's conceptual framework on policy analysis and evaluation and

Coleman's rational action theory, data were collected through in-depth interviews from a

sample of 10 participants composed of healthcare policy designers and rural community

residents. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi's 7-step method for analyzing

phenomenological data. Findings indicated that the lack of primary health care clinics in

rural communities imposed five main challenges which limit access to rural healthcare:

the non-availability of healthcare facilities in rural settings, inaccessibility to rural

communities, the unaffordability of healthcare in rural communities and lack of

healthcare insurance, unacceptability due to lack of health education and social stigma, as

well as lack of accommodation for new clinics. Furthermore, the Minister of Public

Health use existing healthcare funding policy requirements at the NW regional delegation

to make final policy decisions. The results of this study may be used to create positive

social change by establishing nonbiased health policy intervention strategies and will also

help the Government of Cameroon to establish health promotion policy guidelines and

policy adjustments that address the lack of clinics in rural NWR of Cameroon.

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