DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT

9 Users found this project useful

Effect of Patient Rights Education on Awareness of Patient Rights among Adults Attending Public Hospitals in Nigeria

Abstract

Awareness of patient rights is an important component of quality healthcare, patient-centred care, health literacy, and public health in Nigeria. Adults attending public hospitals may have limited knowledge of their rights regarding respectful treatment, privacy and confidentiality, informed consent, access to health information, participation in healthcare decisions, access to medical records where applicable, and the right to seek clarification about proposed healthcare procedures. Limited awareness of patient rights may reduce patients' ability to participate effectively in their care, recognize inappropriate treatment, ask relevant questions, seek appropriate redress, and make informed healthcare decisions. Patient rights education provides an opportunity to improve patients' understanding of their rights and responsibilities within the healthcare system. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of patient rights education on awareness of patient rights among adults attending public hospitals in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Health Literacy Framework, and Theory of Planned Behavior. The Health Belief Model explains how patients' perceptions of their vulnerability to poor-quality or inappropriate healthcare experiences, perceived benefits of understanding their rights, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action may influence awareness and use of patient rights. The Health Literacy Framework emphasizes the ability of patients to access, understand, appraise, and use health-related information to make appropriate healthcare decisions. The Theory of Planned Behavior emphasizes attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and behavioural intentions that may influence patients' willingness to ask questions, participate in decisions, seek clarification, and appropriately exercise their rights. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how patient rights education may influence awareness of patient rights among adults attending public hospitals in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise adults aged 18 years and above attending selected public hospitals across Nigeria for outpatient or other appropriate healthcare services. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, public hospitals, departments or clinics, and eligible adult patients. Patient rights education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to patient-rights education sessions, frequency and duration of education, information on informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, respectful treatment, access to health information, participation in healthcare decisions, access to medical records where applicable, communication with healthcare providers, refusal or acceptance of proposed procedures in accordance with applicable healthcare and legal requirements, complaint and feedback mechanisms, patient responsibilities, and available channels for seeking assistance or redress. Awareness of patient rights will be assessed using indicators such as ability to identify basic patient rights, understanding of informed consent, recognition of privacy and confidentiality rights, awareness of the right to respectful treatment, understanding of participation in healthcare decisions, awareness of access to relevant health information, knowledge of complaint and feedback procedures, and ability to identify appropriate sources of information regarding patient rights. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized patient-rights awareness assessment tools, scenario-based questions, hospital patient-information materials, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize patients' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, healthcare utilization patterns, previous exposure to patient-rights information, sources of health information, and awareness levels. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of patient rights education on awareness of patient rights. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, patient-rights awareness scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that patient rights education has a significant positive effect on awareness of patient rights among adults attending public hospitals in Nigeria. Adults exposed to structured, clear, culturally appropriate, and sustained patient-rights education are expected to demonstrate greater awareness of their rights than patients without comparable exposure. Education may improve patients' understanding of informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, respectful treatment, access to relevant health information, participation in healthcare decisions, and available complaint or feedback mechanisms. Scenario-based education may strengthen patients' ability to recognize situations involving their rights and identify appropriate channels for clarification or assistance. Improved awareness may also encourage more effective communication between patients and healthcare providers and support greater participation in healthcare decisions. However, low health literacy, language barriers, cultural beliefs, fear of healthcare providers, perceived power differences between patients and health workers, limited access to patient-information materials, and inadequate institutional communication systems may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects accessible, understandable, respectful, and sustained patient-rights education, supported by responsive hospital systems and effective communication mechanisms, to contribute significantly to improved awareness of patient rights among adults attending public hospitals in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on patient rights, patient-centred care, health literacy, informed consent, healthcare communication, patient empowerment, public hospital services, healthcare quality, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, state ministries of health, public hospitals, hospital management boards, healthcare professionals, patient advocacy organizations, legal and ethical bodies, health-information units, public health practitioners, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving patient empowerment and healthcare quality. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating patient-rights education into public hospital services, improving the availability of patient-information materials, strengthening informed-consent communication, increasing awareness of complaint and feedback mechanisms, improving healthcare-provider communication, and developing sustainable patient-centred interventions that promote awareness and appropriate exercise of patient rights among adults attending public hospitals across Nigeria.

Keywords: Patient rights education, awareness of patient rights, adults, public hospitals, patient-centred care, health literacy, informed consent, healthcare communication, patient empowerment, healthcare quality, Nigeria, public health.