Post-COVID-19 Evaluation of Information Systems Used in Rural Health Facilities in Delta State
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The emergence of COVID-19 posed a lot of challenges to the rural communities in Nigeria. Nigeria is diversified, with a high concentration of elderly and teenagers in the rural areas. With a vulnerable population, rural communities are extremely important in terms of receiving Health Information (HI). This post-COVID-19 study investigated the use of information systems for the dissemination of health information in rural communities of Agbarho Kingdom of Delta State during the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive survey design using quantitative research with a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection was used for the study. The study focused on eight public and private hospitals in the Kingdom. The population of the study was 113 health personnel. The researchers adopted a face-to-face approach to administer the questionnaire directly to the available respondents within a period of one month (February 26 to March 25, 2024). Within that period, the researchers met 63 personnel who were on duty. Out of the 63, a total of 51 responded appropriately to the questionnaire that was used for the analysis. The data that was collected for this study were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. The study showed that the traditional method, the libraries and information systems were used by health professionals for the dissemination of HI to the rural people. The result also revealed that some health information was available to rural people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges that hindered the dissemination of HI were highlighted. The health personnel in the health facilities in the rural communities in the kingdom participated in managing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study concluded that information systems, libraries and traditional methods were important means for the dissemination of health information to the rural people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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