Kazeem Kolawole Lateef, Garuba Rasheed Obasekore

Keywords: Epidemic, funding, medical social workers, public health, institutional support

Abstract

Medical social workers are essential to healthcare delivery, especially concerning epidemic control and public health promotion, though their role often goes unrecognized. This study focuses on Oyo East Local Government Area in Nigeria, analyzing the contributions, challenges and strategies of these professionals in addressing health crises in the events of the recent Marburg haemorrhagic fever outbreak. The research employs David Mechanic’s Health-Seeking Behaviour Theory as a framework, highlighting how social structures, cultural norms and institutional responses shape health actions. A qualitative research design was implemented, with data collected through key informant interviews (KIIs) from seven carefully selected participants, including community leaders, medical social workers,
and senior civil servants in Primary Health Centres. Content analysis was
applied to analyze the data. The study’s findings indicate that medical social workers significantly contribute to epidemic prevention by engaging in
community sensitization, offering public health education, delivering
psychosocial support and promoting adherence to health guidelines. Their
active participation in community enlightenment programmes has been
effective in curbing the spread of disease and minimizing subsequent health complications. Despite these contributions, the study identifies major challenges that hinder their effectiveness. These include inadequate welfare support, limited funding and increased occupational risks. The study recommends the strengthening of institutional support, improving funding allocations and enhancing welfare packages for medical social workers to bolster their capacity and motivation in epidemic response and public health initiatives.

Author Biography

Kazeem Kolawole Lateef

Department of Sociology and Criminology, Fountain University, Osogbo, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Garuba Rasheed Obasekore

Department of Political Science Education, Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, Oyo, Nigeria

View PDF