Women’s autonomy has long been recognized as an important determinant of demographic behavior in the developing world, and evidence to this effect has accumulated over the years. Financial autonomy may signify better child survival prospects because of greater access to health care and the ability to adopt child-oriented behaviors. In addition, ability to participate in women’s groups, or move freely and interact with other members of the community may broaden one’s social networks, improve access to information and exposure to new forms of behavior. While the relationship between women’s autonomy and demographic behavior is largely acknowledged, the empirical demonstration of this relationship has been problematic in view of the multidimensional nature of autonomy. Some commentators have pointed out the inadequacy of single indicators of autonomy, and advocate the use of multiple indicators that directly tap specific aspects of autonomy.
This study explores the links between women’s autonomy, health seeking behavior and child survival in a rural Ghanaian context. We combine survey data with demographic surveillance data to examine the link between decision making autonomy and subsequent survival of children using bivariate and multinomial regression analyses. The survey data provides background information as well as information on decision making and health seeking bahvior, while the surveillance data provides information on births and deaths between 1993-98. Where necessary, qualitative data from focus group discussions with women are used to clarify findings from the quantitative analysis. The paper will discuss the implications of the findings for health care delivery in rural communities.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this session participants should be able to: 1. identify aspects of women's autonomy that affect their health seeking behavior; 2. describe the implications of women's autonomy for health service utilization; 3. develop plans to enhance women's health seeking behavior
Keywords: Health Behavior, Child Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.