Paper short abstract:

Study examines social considerations urban people make for their health care. It shall be carried out in Yaounde. Survey will be done by questionnaire. Expected results may indicate health seeking behaviours determined more by social than by financial and geographical factors.

Paper long abstract:

The rapport between providers and recipients of care in a health care delivery system is determined by the level of prevailing confidence amongst recipients in the system. Confidence derives from the existence of socially acceptable practices and the ability to offer high quality care. Despite health care planning, populations in Cameroon's cities do not generally relate with the system in the manner it is intended to be. This paper examines the social considerations urban people make for their health care (religions, cultures, traditions, and perceptions) vis-à-vis the national health care system. These behaviours affect the expected comportment of patients when they fall sick.

The study shall be carried out in Yaounde, the capital and second city in the country whose ethnically diverse population mimics the country. Data will be collected mainly through questionnaire surveys amongst the migrant urban dwellers with the purpose of understanding the social considerations they make for the use of the health care system. The questionnaire will be subjected to descriptive analysis in SPSS for patterns of social determinants.

Results should show the degree to which health seeking behaviours are determined by social considerations and the general perception of the health care system and not only the financial and geographical accessibility to health care, a cornerstone of the national plan. This indicates the ever-important need for social and anthropological considerations in the training and deployment of medical staff in the country's health facilities.

Keywords: social determinants, health seeking behaviour, health care, Bamenda, Cameroon.