The impact of barangay health centers on the economic and social dimensions of household poverty in urban poor communities: a case study of Barangay Escopa III, Project 4, Quezon City

Abstract

This is a study on the provision of accessible health care through the local health center and its capacity to alleviate the long term effects of poverty through affecting the economic and social dimensions of household poverty. This study contends that the provision of free access to basic health services such as medical consultations and antenatal care among others plays a vital role in allowing households to maintain good levels of health without having to shoulder the additional burden of health care expenditures. On the other hand, the availability of a reliable barangay health center impacts the social dimension of household poverty through elevating health levels of households which in turn affect their capacity to generate income and invest in human capital development such as education. However, findings of the study suggest that household poverty is influenced by many other factors other than the accessibility of health care and that the social determinants of health such as environment, housing, employment, income and access to education still remain the pivotal factors in the alleviation of poverty in households. Intervention for these factors does not lie solely in the hands of the barangay health center although it can mitigate, and only mitigate, the effects of household poverty.