title: Health seeking behaviours among electronic waste workers in Ghana.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electronic waste workers are prone to various illnesses and injuries from numerous hazards thus the need for them to seek health care. The aim of this study was to describe health-seeking behavior, and social and other factors affecting this behavior, among electronic waste workers at Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana.
  
  
  METHODS
  In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed qualitatively from a grounded theory perspective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Workers experienced various kinds of ailments. These included physical injuries, chest and respiratory tract associated symptoms, malaria, headaches, body pains and stomach discomfort. They reported seeking health care from multiple sources, and the main determinants of health seeking behaviour were severity of illness, perceived benefit of treatment, accessibility of service, quality of service, ease of communication with service provider and cost of health care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multiple sources of health care were used by the e-waste workers. As cost was a major barrier to accessing formal health care, most of the workers did not subscribe to health insurance. Since enrollment in health insurance is low amongst the workers, education campaigns on the need to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme would facilitate access to formal health care and could result in improved health outcomes among e-waste workers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social & Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. easampong@ug.edu.gh.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Asampong
authors.affiliation: Medical Unit, Ghana Post Company Limited, Accra, Ghana. drkdbadu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Kwaku
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dwuma-Badu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. stephensjudith@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.affiliation: La General Hospital, Accra, Ghana. srigboh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srigboh
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. rneitzel@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neitzel
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. niladri.basu@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Niladri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Basu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. jfobil@ug.edu.gh.
authors.forename: Julius N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Fobil
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D059029:Electronic Waste; D005869:Ghana; D015438:Health Behavior; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D009313:National Health Programs; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009790:Occupations; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010465:Perception; D014937:Work; D055815:Young Adult