Challenges to accessibility
of health facilities
experienced by patients
with cerebral palsy in
Africa and Malawi
IPE GEMx Zim and Malawi
LOW INCOME


Being a low-income country, Malawi has the following challenges in its health
system.

Limited number of health facilities.

Limited supply of medicines and pharmaceuticals.

Limited medical personnel.
A similar pattern is seen in most other countries in Africa as they face a
similar economic crisis, with others including political upheavals.
SURVEY METHODS

According to Ponto (2015), there are basically two methods of carrying out
surveys, namely; questionnaires and interviews.

These methods can further be subdivided according to the form in which they
are delivered, in the case of questionnaires, or the medium through which
they are carried out, in the case of interviews. (Ponto 2015; Showkat and
Parveen 2017)
QUESTIONNAIRES

The Oxford dictionary defines a questionnaire as a ”Set of printed or written questions with
a choice of answers, devised for the purposes of a survey or statistical study”

Questionnaires may come in hard copy form,
or be delivered as soft copies via email to participants,
or via an Internet-based program like SurveyMonkey,
(Ponto et al., 2010).

Questionnaires may be administered in various ways; either
by the participants themselves or by a professional, and
may be administered individually or in a group
(Costanzo et al., 2012; DuBenske et al., 2014;
Ponto et al., 2010).
INTERVIEWS

An interview, as defined by Mathers, Fox and Hunn,
(2000, Abstract., para. 1.) , is a “data gathering
technique involving verbal communication between
the researcher and the subject

Interviews may be conducted through; the phone, computer,
or in person.

Benefits of interviews include:


being able to visuallly
identify the nonverbal response(s) of the interviewee
and eventually enables one to clarify
the intended question.

An interviewer can use probing to obtain more
information about a question or topic and can request
clarification of an unclear response (Singleton & Strait, 2009).
However, interviews can be costly and time intensive, and
therefore are relatively impractical for large samples.
REFERENCES

Costanzo, E. S., Stawski, R. S., Ryff, C. D., Coe, C. L., & Almeida, D. M. (2012). Cancer survivors’ responses to
daily stressors: Implications for quality of life. Health Psychology, 31, 360–370.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0027018

DuBenske, L. L., Gustafson, D. H., Namkoong, K. H., Atwood, R. P., Brown, R. L., Chih, M. Y.,…Cleary, J. (2014).
CHESS improves cancer caregivers’ burden and mood: Results of an eHealth RCT. Health Psychology, 33, 1261–
1272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0034216

Glasow Priscilla. A. (2005). Fundamentals of Survey Research Methodology, Mitre Product, Washington C3 Center
McLean, Virgini. 25988. https://www.mitre.org/publications/technical-papers/fundamentals-of-surveyresearch-methodology

Lexico, 2021. In: OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press [Viewed 26 August 2021]. Available from:
https://www.lexico.com/definition/questionnaire
•
Mathers, Nigel & Fox, Nick & Hunn, Amanda. (2000). Using Interviews in a Research Project. ResearchGate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253117832_Using_Interviews_in_a_Research_Project
•
Pinsonneault, A., & Kraemer, K. L. (1993). Survey research methodology in management information systems:
An assessment. Journal of Management Information Systems, 10, 75-105.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40398056?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
•
Ponto, J. A., Ellington, L., Mellon, S., & Beck, S. L. (2010). Predictors of adjustment and growth in women with
recurrent ovarian cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 37, 357–364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1188/10.ONF.357-364
•
Ponto J. (2015). Understanding and Evaluating Survey Research. Journal of the advanced practitioner in
oncology, 6(2), 168–171. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4601897/
•
Showkat, Nayeem & Parveen, Huma. (2017). Quantitative Methods: Survey. ResearchGate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318959206