Overcoming the perceived barriers to health care access among single mothers in coastal Kenya.
OBJECTIVE
This study assesses the effects of a comprehensive empowerment intervention on barriers to health care access for single mothers in coastal Kenya.


METHODS
We surveyed 41 single mothers who completed a pilot empowerment program and 60 single mothers who had not yet initiated the program. Comparisons were made using bivariate tests of association and logistic regression.


RESULTS
Women in the pilot program were less likely to report transportation costs (OR = 0.26; 95 % CI [0.11-0.59], p = 0.001) and hospital fees (OR = 0.22 [0.10-0.49], p < 0.001) as barriers. Pilot program mothers were more likely to visit a public hospital for their children (OR = 4.38; [1.58-12.1], p = 0.004) and self (OR = 4.70; [1.54-14.4], p = 0.007) when ill.


CONCLUSIONS
Empowerment programs can alleviate perceived barriers to health care among vulnerable populations.
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA, jordan.j.cohen@vanderbilt.edu.
J J
JJ
Cohen
M
M
Blevins
A
A
Mapenzi
L
L
Reppart
J
J
Reppart
R
R
Mainthia
C W
CW
Wester
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D016015:Logistic Models; D009035:Mothers; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015406:Single Parent; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult