Effective communication approaches as tool for achieving Universal Health Coverage through social health insurance in Nigeria.

Abstract

National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) designed various Social Health Insurance programmes to achieve universal coverage in healthcare delivery in the country. The Scheme is adjudged to have failed to achieve its primary objective, especially in the informal sector, due to communication lapses. This study has employed an integrative literature review method to appraise the principles underlying effective health communication, the communication approaches of the NHIS, and recommended plausible alternatives. Media integration, advocacy campaign, social media, domestications of ICTs, communication in multiple languages, and active involvement of communities in the programme were found to imbibe some practical communication principles that can help improve communications to a target audience.