Healthcare-seeking Behaviour among Working Women with Disability in Karnataka, India

Heavenna Babu (1), Senthil N.S. Kumar (2), Christy Abraham (3), Lekha J (4)
(1) The Association of People with Disability (APD-India), India,
(2) The Association of People with Disability, India,
(3) The Association of People with Disability, India,
(4) The Association of People with Disability, India
https://doi.org/10.47985/dcidj.441

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Issue
Vol. 32 No. 1 (2021): Spring
Submitted
December 4, 2020
Published
May 6, 2021
Keywords:
    Healthcare-seeking behaviour, women with disability, healthcare, access to health- care, employed women, disability
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Abstract

Purpose: In India women constitute 44% of the total population with disabilities, which roughly amounts to around 10 million persons. This study explores healthcare-seeking behaviour among working women with disabilities in the country.

Method: A cross-sectional study using a quantitative survey was conducted among 72 working women with disability to explore their patterns of health-seeking behaviour. Women with disability, between 18 and 45 years of age, who were currently working full-time and who had experienced a serious health problem in the past year were included in the study. A pre-structured questionnaire was used for the survey. 

Results:Body pain (78%) followed by Urinary Tract Infections (9%) were the commonly cited health problems by the study participants. Eighty percent (80%) of women with disability sought care for their health issues. The actions that they took for their health problems depended on the severity of the disability (p-value-0.001), type of the disability (p-value-0.05), marital status (p-value-0.035) and savings (p-value-0.042) they had set aside for themselves. Monthly family income and years of disability showed correlation with the type of care that they opted for.

Conclusion: Employed women with disability show a positive healthcare seeking behaviour pattern. The action they take in addressing their health issues and the type of care that they opt for depends on factors associated with their disability, marital status and financial stability or available savings.

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Authors

Heavenna Babu
The Association of People with Disability (APD-India)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2696-5719
heavennababu@gmail.com (Primary Contact)
Senthil N.S. Kumar
The Association of People with Disability
Christy Abraham
The Association of People with Disability
Lekha J
The Association of People with Disability
Author Biographies

Heavenna Babu, The Association of People with Disability (APD-India)

Heavenna Babu is a Public Health researcher and Physiotherapist. Her areas of interest are community based rehabilitation; orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children with disability; women with disability; and spinal cord injury. She holds a MPH Degree from Sree Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences and  BPT from Christian Medical College Vellore. 

Senthil N.S. Kumar, The Association of People with Disability

Dr. Senthil N.S. Kumar is Chief Innovation Officer at The Association of People with Disability (APD) India, Bangalore. He has 18 years of experience in the field of rehabilitation across clinical, academics, research, innovation, commercialization and research grant writing. Dr. Senthil has more than 15 international peer-reviewed journal publications and four Intellectual properties (2 patents & 2 copyrights). He has a PhD in Rehabilitation with a full scholarship from the National University of Malaysia (University Kebangsaan, Malaysia).

 

 

Christy Abraham, The Association of People with Disability

Christy Abraham is former CEO of The Association for Persons with Disability, India and currently works as an independent consultant. She has more than 30 years of experience on a range of development and human rights issues, such as, Disability, HIV and AIDS and Women’s Rights. She has significant grounded experience in mobilising communities, formation of networks, community based organisations and building a political perspective on rights, voice, civil society space and access to justice.

Lekha J, The Association of People with Disability

Lekha is the Program Manager in a Livelihood program hosted by APD India, Bangalore. She is an expert on employment of people with disability and manages job readiness programs for disabled people throughout Karnataka. Her areas of interest are women with disability and working with employers for creating opportunities for disabled persons.
1.
Babu H, Kumar SN, Abraham C, J L. Healthcare-seeking Behaviour among Working Women with Disability in Karnataka, India. DCIDJ [Internet]. 2021 May 6 [cited 2025 Feb. 5];32(1):160-71. Available from: https://dcidj.uog.edu.et/index.php/up-j-dcbrid/article/view/441
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