A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE ROLE OF GENDER OF HOUSEHOLD HEADS ON HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS’ ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA

The main objective of the study was to determine the role of gender of household heads on member’s access to healthcare in southern Nigeria. The study was guided by the sociological theories of conflict by Karl Marx and social stratification as enunciated by Max Weber. The qualitative method was adopted in this study. An explorative research design was adopted in this study; data was collected through IDI; a qualitative data collection technique from twenty (20) household heads who were randomly selected in Edo central, southern Nigeria. This consists of Esan Central, Esan Northeast and Esan West LGA’s in Edo central. The qualitative data was analysed based on themes using content analysis from which conclusions were derived. The study found out that there was a gender of household heads plays a significant role on household members’ access to healthcare in southern Nigeria. Some recommendations were made to enhance access to health care in southern Nigeria and mitigate the concerns around social exclusion in southern Nigeria.