Abstract:
In this study, the researcher adopted a qualitative research design to describe and explore the perceptions of Indigenous leaders on enhancing men’s health-seeking behaviour in a selected village of the KwaZulu-Natal province. Data was collected through the lekgotla method (which refers to a traditional community council or assembly where important matters are discussed and decisions are made, (Moeta, Mabitja, et al), where a discussion with 20 Indigenous leaders who reside in that village was held. The sampling technique that was used was to nominate one indigenous leader each community which has had totalled up to 20 indigenous leaders. They grew up from the same community, sharing the same cultures, beliefs, values and norms. The researcher’s target group was the Indigenous leaders, aged 18 to 50 years ; this eliminated the need to require the participants to sign consent forms. The researcher opted to use Tesch’s qualitative approach to analyse the data.
Findings from the study revealed that the participants (Indigenous leaders) delay seeking medical intervention because they do not want to stand in queues for long hours, and they also do not want female health-care workers to attend to their medical needs. Instead, they prefer male health-care workers to assist when they seek medical attention. The Indigenous leaders (participants) also raised the issue of privacy and confidentiality, which remains a big challenge for public healthcare institutions.
The study’s participants also reported recurrent episodes of a poor public healthcare system; the issue of long queues has been topical on a lot of platforms, including the war room, community meetings, and during community dialogues; however, there has been no improvement. Ultimately, this resulted in a reduction of men visiting the public healthcare centres for their health-related issues.
The researcher made the following recommendations:
• First, to improve the recruitment strategy and prioritise African males when employment opportunities arise. Actually, African males should be given first preference for employment.
• Second, the researcher recommended that, to reduce patients’ waiting time, men should be prioritised through the establishment of men’s healthcare services, and they should also be treated by male healthcare workers.
• Third, to improve confidentiality and privacy, waiting areas should be separated and men should be allowed to queue separately from the main waiting area to promote privacy and confidentiality.
