Exploring the road to public healthcare accessibility: a qualitative study to understand healthcare utilization among hard-to-reach groups in Kerala, India.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Kerala, a southern state in India, is known to be atypical due to its high literacy rate and advanced social development indicators. Facing competition from a dominant private healthcare system, recent government health system reforms have focused on providing free, high-quality universal healthcare in the public sector. We carried out an analysis to ascertain the initial impacts of these measures among 'hard to reach groups' as part of a larger health policy and systems research study, with a focus on public sector health service utilisation.

Methods

We conducted Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) among identified vulnerable groups across four districts of Kerala between March and August of 2022. The FGDs explored community perspectives on the use of public healthcar

SUBMITTER: Surendran S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11312678 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature