A Study of Availability and Utilization of Healthcare Services Among the Slum Dwellers of English Bazar City Malda

Abstract

A STUDY OF AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES newlineAMONG THE SLUM DWELLERS OF ENGLISH BAZAR CITY, MALDA newlineThe study explores the healthcare services available to the slum dwellers located in the English newlineBazaar City of Malda, West Bengal. There is a substantial slum population in English Bazar newlineCity (65766, according to the 2011 Census). There is a lack of access to safe and clean drinking newlinewater, proper sanitation, and healthy surroundings in those areas, which has consequences on newlinethe health status of slum dwellers of English Bazaar City. Private and government healthcare newlineservices are present in the locality, but their adequacy in providing services in accordance with newlinethe requirements of the residents is evaluated in this study. newlineThe study has been conducted to assess the availability of healthcare facilities and to explore newlinefactors that aid or obstruct its utilization among the slum dwellers of English Bazar City. newlineFurthermore, the study intends to recognize the nature and pattern of illness and inspect the newlinecondition of healthcare centres from which treatment has been sought. The utilization of newlinehealthcare services has been examined from socioeconomic, demographic, and residential newlineperspectives. Perceptions of slum dwellers regarding healthcare services have been considered newlinewhile focusing on detecting healthcare utilization patterns. newlineMajor objectives of this study are i) to analyse the socio-demographic and economic profile of newlinethe slum dwellers of the study area, ii) to comprehend the effect of the residential environment newlineon the prevalent diseases of the slum dwellers of the study area, iii) to assess the availability of newlinepublic and private healthcare facilities in the study area, iv) to examine the health status of the newlineslum dwellers of the study area, v) to study the impact of expenditure on health by different newlinesocio-economic strata, vi) to know the affordability of different healthcare facilities by the slum newlinexi newlinedwellers of the study area and vii) to know the perception of slum dwellers on the public he