Skip Navigation



Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on December 8, 2004
Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdh207
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
27/1/49    most recent
fdh207v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shaikh, B. T.
Right arrow Articles by Hatcher, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shaikh, B. T.
Right arrow Articles by Hatcher, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Public Health © Faculty of Public Health 2004; all rights reserved.

Article

Health seeking behaviour and health service utilization in Pakistan: challenging the policy makers

Babar T. Shaikh 1* and Juanita Hatcher 1

1 Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS), Aga Khan University Karachi, Pakistan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Babar T. Shaikh, E-mail: babar.shaikh{at}aku.edu


  Abstract

There is a growing literature on health seeking behaviours and the determinants of health services utilization especially in the context of developing countries. However, very few focused studies have been seen in Pakistan in this regard.This paper presents an extensive literature review of the situation in developing countries and relates the similar factors responsible for shaping up of a health seeking behaviour and health service utilization in Pakistan. The factors determining the health behaviours may be seen in various contexts: physical, socio-economic, cultural and political. Therefore, the utilization of a health care system, public or private, formal or non-formal, may depend on socio-demographic factors, social structures, level of education, cultural beliefs and practices, gender discrimination, status of women, economic and political systems environmental conditions, and the disease pattern and health care system itself. Policy makers need to understand the drivers of health seeking behaviour of the population in an increasingly pluralistic health care system. Also a more concerted effort is required for designing behavioural health promotion campaigns through inter-sectoral collaboration focusing more on disadvantaged segments of the population.

Keywords: health, health care system, health seeking behaviour, health service utilization, Pakistan.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.