Ethno-religious Beliefs and Patients’ Healthcare-seeking Behavior in Nigeria

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This paper examined how ethnic cleavages stimulate the medical choices and decisions of patients in Nigeria. Indeed, how ethno-religious beliefs, push patients into adhering too much to religious faith and doctrines instead of seeking medical help is hardly examined in Nigeria. This gap invariably constitutes not only a high mortality rate but large-scale human insecurity in terms of loss of lives in the country. Drawing on structural-functionalism theory and qualitative methods that were sourced through observations, interviews, and document analysis, this article examined the connection between ethno-religious beliefs and the healthcare choices or behavior of patients. The findings showed that the high level of insecurity in Nigeria includes patients who risk their lives over religious-based healthcare decisions or seeking behavior. The findings also expand the discussion on the dynamics of the influence of ethno-religious sentiments among patients in Nigeria’s tertiary health institutions. It further expands knowledge on how the Nigerian government can mitigate reliance on ethno-religious beliefs in ways to promote human security, including that of patients in hospitals. Keywords: Beliefs, Corruption, Ethnic, Healthcare, Religious

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