Over 80 percent of people in Malawi live in rural areas and 46 percent of people live further than five kilometers from the nearest health facility. In 2008, the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA), a non-governmental organization, launched the GAIA Elizabeth Taylor Mobile Health Clinic program and is currently operating seven mobile health clinics in the southern region of Malawi. Continued poor health, high mortality rates, and a noted decrease in daily usage of the mobile clinics over the past three years indicate that many Malawians are not accessing the free health services provided by the GAIA mobile health clinics. This study involves two defined objectives. The first objective was to gain a more in-depth understanding of the satisfaction of the clients who use the GAIA mobile health clinics (MHCs). The second aim was to learn about the perceptions of the MHCs of people living within the MHC catchment area who do not use the MHCs and additionally explore reasons for their disuse. 

Mentor: Ellen Schell, RN, PhD, FAAN