Exploring health-seeking behaviours among Nigerians in the UK: towards improved healthcare utilisation

The changing face of patient’s populations in the UK has resulted in notable increases in cultural diversity that impact on health care service provision, access and utilisation; with health services underutilisation, prevalent more among immigrants due to heavy reliance on cultural and religious cure methods. The aim of this thesis therefore, was to explore how Nigerians in the UK engage with the British health system. This objective was pursued by integrating immigration issues, with factors associated with decisions to seek medical help, including health beliefs, access, attitudes, cognitions, and socio-political and religious experiences (past and present) that impact upon health outcomes. A triangulation approach was employed, involving a critical review of measures, and four empirical studies consisting of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Results show that health-seeking behaviours among Nigerians were best accounted for by their religious and cultural beliefs, as typified by their health context before migration. Religion was not found as a barrier to medical help-seeking; the regression analysis revealed that belonging to the Christian religious group predicted increased medical help-seeking; although assimilation to the British culture was associated with reduced religious behaviours. However, the role of other religious groups regarding medical help-seeking remains unclear, and needs a more focused study. In addition, care providers mainly agreed on the benefits of integrating the spiritual methods into formal healthcare systems, bringing some challenges which were tentatively negotiated through the theory of transformative coping (TTC). Findings have implications for research, policies, and clinical practice, particularly when culture-sensitive and integrated health interventions are tailored to the needs of the diverse immigrant populations in the UK.