ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2018
Social Networks and Health: Understanding the Nuances of Healthcare Access between Urban and Rural Populations.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Article
- Cultivating a rural nursing workforce: the impact of rural vs. urban education on nursing students' intentions for rural practice in Nepal.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Patient and provider perspectives of pluralistic primary care services in urban Bangladesh: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Impact of health education on knowledge and perception of cervical cancer and screening among rural women in Bangladesh.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Knowledge-seeking and knowledge sharing of health services across social networks and communities: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Navigating the Lay Referral System for Treatment-Seeking Decisions During Illness in the Digital Age: A Qualitative Study of Adults Living in Slums in Nigeria.Sociology of health & illness · 2025Article
- Assessment of patterns and related factors in using social media platforms to access health and oral health information among Sri Lankan adults, with special emphasis on promoting oral health awareness.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Effect of social capital on enrolment of informal sector occupational groups in the national health insurance scheme in Ghana: a cross-sectional survey.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Article
- Did the pandemic influence telehealth use among Swiss emergency department patients? A sequential explanatory study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Content Validity of a Scale Designed to Measure the Access of Older Adults to Outpatient Health Services.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Perspectives of cancer prevention and control resources from stakeholders in rural southern Illinois.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2022Article
- Health Behaviors and Health Literacy: Questing the Role of Weak Social Ties Among Older Persons in Rural and Urban Ghana.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- A multidimensional study of public satisfaction with the healthcare system: a mixed-method inquiry in Ghana.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Householders' perception about sustaining the useful life of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets in Ghana.International health · 2021Article
- Analysis of Network Structure and Doctor Behaviors in E-Health Communities from a Social-Capital Perspective.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- The Relationship among Functional Health Literacy, Self-Rated Health, and Social Support among Younger and Older Adults in Ghana.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Article
- Rural Versus Urban Patients: Benchmarking the Outcomes of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction in Shanxi, China from 2013 to 2017.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Communities and individuals in many sub-Saharan African countries often face limited access to healthcare. Hence, many rely on social networks to enhance their chances for adequate health care. While this knowledge is well-established, little is known about the nuances of how different population groups activate these networks to improve access to healthcare. This paper examines how rural and urban dwellers in the Ashanti Region in Ghana distinctively and systematically activate their social networks to enhance access to healthcare. It uses a qualitative cross-sectional design, with in-depth interviews of 79 primary participants (28 urban and 51 rural residents) in addition to the views of eight community leaders and eight health personnel. It was discovered that both intimate and distanced social networks for healthcare are activated at different periods by rural and urban residents. Four main stages of social networks activation, comprising different individuals and groups were observed among rural and urban dwellers. Among both groups, physical proximity, privacy, trust and sense of fairness, socio-cultural meaning attached to health problems, and perceived knowledge and other resources (mainly money) held in specific networks inherently influenced social network activation. The paper posits that a critical analysis of social networks may help to tailor policy contents to individuals and groups with limited access to healthcare.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.