Impact of Local Government Policies on Primary Healthcare Delivery in Rural Communities: A Study of Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State (1999–2024)

Jackson; Ekioebi Felix; Ogedi Jacob PhD

doi:10.56201/jhsp.vol.11.no9.2025.pg43.57

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Impact of Local Government Policies on Primary Healthcare Delivery in Rural Communities: A Study of Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State (1999–2024)

Jackson, Ekioebi Felix, Ogedi Jacob PhD

Abstract

This study examines the impact of local government policies on primary healthcare delivery in rural communities, using the Sagbama Local Government Area in Bayelsa State as a case study from 1999 to 2024. The study looks into how policy formulation, implementation, and governance at the grassroots level have affected access to, quality of, and sustainability in healthcare service provision. The study uses a mixed-method approach based on decentralisation and adopted the structural-functionalism theory as its theoretical foundation, integrating qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, health workers, and community members with quantitative analysis of health indices and policy texts. The study findings that local government policies in Sagbama between 1999 and 2024 were inadequate to address the primary healthcare needs of rural residents. The consistent patterns of weak funding, poor staffing policies, limited outreach, infrastructural neglect, and poor implementation reflect broader challenges of policy ineffectiveness at the grassroots level in Nigeria. The study emphasises the importance of improved institutional frameworks, openness, and community engagement in policy design and implementation. The study concludes that enhancing rural healthcare systems in Sagbama and other Nigerian communities requires developing local government capability and implementing accountability mechanisms. It therefore recommends that the local government should implement more effective recruitment and retention strategies to attract skilled healthcare workers. In addition, mobile clinics and rural health outreach programs should be established to provide services to remote and riverine communities.

Keywords

Local governmenthealthcare deliveryrural communitiespolicy implementationSagbama LGA.

References

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Impact of Local Government Policies on Primary Healthcare Delivery in Rural Communities: A Study of Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State (1999–2024)

Abstract

Keywords

References

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