A Qualitative Study to Explore the Experiences of Older People Utilising Outpatient Healthcare Services from a Teaching Hospital in Ghana

BACKGROUND: Empirical evidence suggests that when older people are provided with quality and affordable healthcare services, their health status can be improved. However, in low- and middle-income countries, healthcare services may not be fully resourced, leading to difficulties for older people utilising those services. There is a paucity of research studies regarding the experiences of older persons accessing healthcare services in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. AIM: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of older people utilising outpatient healthcare services from a Teaching hospital in Ghana. METHODS: This study adopted a descriptive qualitative approach to describe the experiences of older persons utilising outpatient healthcare services. Participants included a total of twelve older people between the ages of 60 and 80 years who utilised outpatient healthcare services at the hospital. A semistructured interview guide was used to conduct interviews with participants, and their views were analysed into descriptive themes. RESULTS: The results in this study showed that the participants experienced the following in utilising outpatient healthcare services: long waiting hours in accessing outpatient healthcare, poor attitudes from health staff, lack of drugs from the healthcare facility, inadequate information from health staff in the healthcare facility, lack of specialist care at the healthcare facility, and high confidence and trust in the efficacy of the orthodox healthcare. CONCLUSION: The findings from this qualitative study demonstrated that the participants encountered some challenges in accessing outpatient healthcare services. There is the need for government and other stakeholders to address the challenges encountered by older people in accessing healthcare in order to facilitate the utilisation of healthcare among older persons for better health outcomes.