Familism and hospital admission in rural Nigeria—a case study

Abstract

Traditionally in Nigeria, especially in the rural areas, familism (the subordination of individual goals and decisions to those of the family) has always played a very important role if not a dominant role in the day-to-day decisions that people make about present and future plans. In the light of social changes which are said to have affected the institution of the family all over the world, this study was undertaken to see if changes have occurred in rural families in Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined (a) the extent to which people depended on the family decision for hospitalization ; (b) whether family consent was required in all cases before the sick was hospitalized, and (c) the extent to which this practice was approved by the people. In all these dimensions of the investigation, there was consistent evidence of family dominance with regard to the hospitalization of the sick member of the family. In other words, among rural people in the study area, a decision as to whether a sick person should be hospitalized or not was not yet the exclusive responsibility of an individual but that of the family. It is thus suggested that in dealing with rural people in this area, whether in a matter of health or in other planned programmes of change, individuals alone should not form the focus of expert-client relation as a decision unilaterally taken by an individual may be overturned by the family.