INEFFECTIVE HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ( HRD) AND HEALTH FINANCING: CORRELATES TO THE LEVEL OF HEALTH SERVICES DELIVERY IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The focus of this study was to investigate ineffective human resources development and health financing and its correlation to the level of health services delivery in Rivers State, Nigeria. Survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was Rivers State, and it covered all health workers in government hospital in the State. A sample of 300 respondents was selected for the study. The selection was done through the use of simple random sampling and accidental sampling techniques. The questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was content validated by professionals in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Choba. Furthermore, the reliability value of 0.80 correlation co-efficient was obtained for the study. The statistical methods used for the study were percentage, frequency and contingency tables and a bar-graph as well as Chi-square (c²). Percentage was used to analyze biographical data of respondents’ results as presented in a frequency table and a bar-graph for the study. Additionally, c²was used to analyze the tested hypotheses for the study at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the analyses revealed that associations exist between ineffective human resources development/health financing and the level of health services delivery in Rivers State, Nigeria. In consonance with the findings, the study recommended, among others, that the State Government should as a matter of mandate train and retrain her health personnel on the cutting edge health technology and delivery patterns, in order to achieve optimal health services delivery that will be affordable and acceptable by health consumers in the ‘medical market places’ (health facilities in Rivers State in Nigeria).