School of Public Health

Care Pathways for People Living with Disabilities in Sierra Leone's Pluralistic Healthcare System

• Duration: 02/2024 - 02/2025
• Head: Dr. Hanna Luetke Lanfer

People with disabilities face considerable challenges in accessing appropriate healthcare in many countries. Sierra Leone has a pluralistic healthcare system in which formal biomedical facilities and informal healthcare services coexist. The CaPDi research project investigated how people with disabilities navigated this system in their search for healthcare, what barriers they had to overcome and what role digital technologies played.

The study involved focus groups with people with disabilities and their supportive caregivers, as well as individual interviews with formal (e.g. doctors, physiotherapists) and informal (e.g. traditional healers) healthcare providers. The study shows that people with disabilities in Sierra Leone often switch between formal and informal health services, as access to medical care is limited by financial, social and infrastructural barriers. Traditional healers play a central role in many cases, especially in rural areas where formal healthcare services are often unavailable or difficult to reach. At the same time, there is little networking between formal and informal healthcare services. Digital technologies, especially messenger services such as WhatsApp, are used informally to keep healthcare providers in contact.

The results of the study highlight the need for better networking between formal and informal actors in the healthcare system. Increased cooperation could help to close gaps in care and make care for people with disabilities more sustainable and accessible.

The project was funded by the Bielefeld Young Researchers Fund, Postdocs funding line.