Communication barrier and health information dissemination in selected government hospitals, Cross River State

Abstract

Communication is central in health information management and disseminations, and decentralized and accessible health knowledge is prominent goals of primary healthcare in developing countries like Nigeria. Lack of knowledge and information remains a significant deterrent to good health practices and service delivery, leading to heightened health. Data was collected through the use of questionnaire focusing on communication barrier and health information dissemination, language barrier and health information dissemination and gender barrier and health information dissemination. A total 200 respondents were sampled from 2 secondary hospitals (General Hospital Calabar and Akampa) in Cross River State and use analyzed by the use of simple tables and percentages. The study findings reveal that communication barrier is a major impediment in health care delivery which as a result of poor information dissemination and management. Also, language barrier and gender barrier and affect information dissemination in hospitals. The study recommends that the government, ministry of health or other stakeholders should adopt important measures for adapt the effective way to disseminate health information. It is recommended that development projects on health should involve the use of visuals such as images and videos to tell health stories as a way of promoting health information dissemination and education in rural communities where literacy levels are likely to be low. Health literacy programmes targeting skill improvement should be organized regularly by effective means of communication for the benefit of people with marginal literacy skills.