Health seeking behaviours among electronic waste workers in Ghana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Asampong E ; Basu N ; Dwuma-Badu K ; Fobil JN ; Neitzel R ; Srigboh R ; Stephens J
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Electronic waste workers are prone to various illnesses and injuries from numerous hazards thus the need for them to seek health care. The aim of this study was to describe health-seeking behavior, and social and other factors affecting this behavior, among electronic waste workers at Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed qualitatively from a grounded theory perspective. RESULTS: Workers experienced various kinds of ailments. These included physical injuries, chest and respiratory tract associated symptoms, malaria, headaches, body pains and stomach discomfort. They reported seeking health care from multiple sources, and the main determinants of health seeking behaviour were severity of illness, perceived benefit of treatment, accessibility of service, quality of service, ease of communication with service provider and cost of health care. CONCLUSION: Multiple sources of health care were used by the e-waste workers. As cost was a major barrier to accessing formal health care, most of the workers did not subscribe to health insurance. Since enrollment in health insurance is low amongst the workers, education campaigns on the need to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme would facilitate access to formal health care and could result in improved health outcomes among e-waste workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Recycling Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Agbogbloshie Behaviour E-waste Ghana Health Health Insurance Injuries Qualitative Analysis Statistical Analysis Waste Disposal
• ISSN:
  1471-2458
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  15
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047794
• Citation:
  BMC Public Health 2015 Oct; 15:1065
• Contact Point Address:
  Emmanuel Asampong, Department of Social & Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
• Email:
  easampong@ug.edu.gh
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  BMC Public Health
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6d8a4b1d3fd53956d975143c4333fe01e97f69dfb06c2608e8e0babd11ae2f044d32ea1e46f012a74b74e3684acb73c85e47b540eaa3faa614fb32bbd0d495bd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202768/cdc_202768_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 425.83 KB ]