Application of Public Relations Tools in Enhancing Health Care Delivery in Selected South- Eastern States of Nigeria (2000 – 2010)

Application of Public Relations Tools in Enhancing Health Care Delivery in Selected South- Eastern States of Nigeria (2000 – 2010).

ABSTRACT  

Over the years, public health care delivery programmes in Nigeria have been beset by one problem or the other. These include sometimes public apathy towards such health initiatives. The case of the cold murder of nine nurses on routine immunisation exercise in Kano State early this year is still fresh in our minds. Hence, the motivation for this study which is a critical appraisal of the application of Public Relations tools in enhancing health care delivery in selected South Eastern States of Nigeria.

The main objective of the study was to examine how the application of public relations tools can help health care delivery in the south eastern states of Nigeria. The specific objectives were to ascertain the extent public relations information disseminating tools were used in the execution of health care programs in South East, Nigeria; the relationship between use of public relations research tools and successful health care delivery programs; the significance of public relations inter-personal communication tools of counselling and healthtalks and the potency of public relations socio-cultural tools of town criers, village meetings and cultural ceremonies for successful health care information dissemination in the area. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page = = = = = = = = ii
Declaration = = = = = = = = iii
Approval Page = = = = = = = = iv
Dedication = = = = = = = = v
Acknowledgement = = = = = = = = vi
Table of contents = = = = = = = = vii
Abstract = = = = = = = = viii

CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background of the Study = = = = = = 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem = = = = = = 10
1.3 Objectives of the Study = = = = = = 11
1.4 Research Questions = = = = = = 11
1.5 Research Hypotheses = = = = = = 12
1.6 Significance of the Study = = = = = = 12
1.7 Scope of the Study = = = = = = 14
1.8 Operational Definition of Key Terms = = = = 14
References = = = = = = 17

CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction = = = = = = 20
2.2 Theoretical Framework = = = = = = 20
2.2.1 Public Relations Conceptualized = = = = = 24
2.2.2 Functions of Public Relations = = = = = 26
2.3 Types of Public Relations Set-up = = = = = 28
2.4 Public Relations Tools = = = = = = 30
2.4.1 Advertisement = = = = = = 31
2.4.2 Public opinion = = = = = = 32
2.4.3 Special events = = = = = = 32
2.4.4 Periodicals = = = = = = 33
2.4.5 Communication = = = = = = 33
2.5 Healthcare Delivery System in Nigeria: South East in Perspective 34
2.5.1 Components of Health Care Delivery = = = = 41
2.5.2 Levels of Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria = = = = 42
2.5.3 Roles of the Various Tiers of Government in Health Service Delivery 50
2.5.4 State of the Nigerian Health Care System = = = = 52
2.5.5 History of Health Services in Nigeria = = = = 53
2.6 Application of Public Relations Tools in Managing Health Care 57
Delivery in Nigeria: South East Situational Analysis = = 57
2.6.1 Publics of Health Care Institutions = = = = 63
2.7 Problems Militating Against the Application of Public Relations in the
Execution of Healthcare Programmes in the South East, Nigeria. 64
2.8 Managing Healthcare Programmes through the Use of Public Relations
in the South East, Nigeria: A Suggestive Approach. = = 71
2.9 Empirical Studies = = = = = = 76
2.10 Summary = = = = = = 79
References = = = = = 82

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction = = = = = = 92
3.2 Research Design = = = = = = 92
3.3 Sources of Data = = = = = = 92
3.4 Area of the Study = = = = = = 93
3.5 Pilot Survey = = = = = = 94
3.6 Population of the Study = = = = = = 95
3.7 Sample Size Determination = = = = = = 95
3.8 Sampling Technique = = = = = = 97
3.9 Instruments for Data Collection = = = = = 98
3.10 Method of Data Collection = = = = = 99
3.11 Validity = = = = = = = = 99
3.12 Reliability = = = = = = = = 100
3.13 Method of Data Presentation and Analysis = = = = 102
References

CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS = = = = 104
4.1: Data Presentation = = = = = = = 104
4.2 Data Analysis = = = = = = = 124
4.3 Hypotheses Tests = = = = = = = 124

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS,
CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE AND AREAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
5.1 Summary of Finding = = = = = = 135
5.2 Discussion = = = = = = 135
5.3 Recommendations = = = = = = 140
5.4 Conclusion = = = = = = 141
5.5 Contribution to Knowledge = = = = = = 142
5.6 Areas for Further Research = = = = = 143
References = = = = =144

INTRODUCTION  

The fact that there are lots of problems bedeviling the Nigeria Health Care Delivery system is not debatable. The debate, however, would rather be on the singular most important change that needs to be affected within the system, given the current trend in the system to bring about improvement.

Health care delivery in Nigeria and most of its federating states have remained comatosed despite the efforts governments and individuals have made toward global best practices in the health sector and the huge sums of money sunk therein on yearly basis.

Throughout the world, as Lucas and Gilles (2003:283) posit, the health sector is in crisis. They further asserted that with the United States’ annual spending of 1000–3000 US Dollars per head of the population, the developed nations of the world cannot afford to provide universal access to all modern health technologies to their citizenry.

Nigeria, though a developing nation, is not isolated from this. Ogbebulu (2009) noted that the 2003 National Demographic Health survey observed that Nigeria’s immunisation coverage was put at 13% and that led to some of the reasons why some Nigeria children were dying everyday of preventable illness.

He believed that the rate at which women were dying of preventable and avoidable complications of pregnancies across the entire nation was alarming. Nigeria accounts for 10% of the global estimate of maternal death, even though the World Health Organisation assessment puts her population at about only 2% of the world population.

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StudentsandScholarship Team.