METHODS: A community-based survey was conducted among families residing in the field practice area of an outreach centre for more than a year. Data were collected using a questionnaire administered to adults aged >18 years. Collected data were entered into and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0.
RESULTS: Approximately 65.1% of the respondents were aged 31-59 years, and 67.4% were women. Among 126 surveyed households, 50.7% had utilised services from the outreach centre. The facilitators of utilisation among 64 households included proximity to their area of residence (90.6%) and availability of good-quality services (40.6%). The most common barriers included a lack of awareness (30.9%) and inconvenient timings (18.2%) of the healthcare centre. The respondents aged <18 years (odds ratio [OR]=7.64; 95% confidence interval [CI]=4.37-13.37) and >45 years (OR=2.65; 95% CI=1.57-4.47) had higher odds of utilising services than those aged 18-45 years. The female respondents (OR=2.89; 95% CI=1.86-4.51) were more likely to utilise services than the male respondents.
CONCLUSION: Creating awareness regarding the outreach healthcare centre and designing services based on the observed needs of the community can further improve the utilisation of services provided at the healthcare centre.