SOCIAL AND NON-SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE IN EKITI AND KOGI STATES OF NIGERIA C. T. Oluwadare 1 , K. E. Igbekoyi 1 , O. A. Ijabadeniy 2 and A. A. Olurunfemi 1 1 Department of Sociology, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State 2 Department of Sociology, AfeBabalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT This study examined social and non-social factors affecting healthcare access in Ekiti and Kogi States of Nigeria. These two States represent a cultural plurality of Nigeria. Ekiti State is homogeneously Yoruba while Kogi State is heterogeneous home to at least five ethnic groups. The study adopts a descriptive research design using a quantitative method to conduct a comparative study between Ekiti and Kogi States. The study population involves all adults 18 years and above who are aware to engage in health-seekingbehaviour. The sample size for this study is eight hundred and fifty-six (856) respondents. Multi-stage sampling techniques were adopted in selecting the respondents for the study. Analysis was done using a special package social sciences (SPSS version 21) and it is presented in frequency percentage. Findings show that Kogi State has more female respondents. While Ekiti State has more respondents having above secondary school education. Kogi State also has more respondents with diverse ethnic identities and engaged in self-employed occupations. About 30% of Kogi State respondents were either widowed or divorced. Income level did not show a significant difference. Analysis of social factors of healthcare access indicated that level of education, ethnic identity, type of education, marital status and religion had a significant influence on access to healthcare. Findings on the social factors showa more significant influence in Ekiti State than Kogi State. Also, waiting time, health personnel shortage and frequent strikes were the most significant non-social factors of healthcare access in Ekiti State. In Kogi State, availability of health facilities, personnel shortage and waiting time were the most significant non-social factors of healthcare access. It was concluded that educational status and quality of health personnel are significant predictors of healthcare access. In Kogi State, the physical availability of health facilities is equally a unique non-social factor. As a result, the study recommends that Government should establish additional modern healthcare institutions to make healthcare accessibility easier for the users, and Professional staff should be recruited to various healthcare institutions to avoid patient delay and poor service delivery. Copyright©2023, C. T. Oluwadare et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. INTRODUCTION Achieving access to healthcare services as envisaged by Dawkins, Renwick, Ensor, Shinkins, David and Mead (2021) is an intentionally recognized worldview and aim, which was reinforced by the Universal Healthcare Movement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nevertheless, inequalities in the healthcare sector persist among people due to differences in both social and non-social factors. It is on this note that this study intends to examine the social and non- social factors that influence access to healthcare services in Ekiti and Kogi State, Nigeria. Access to healthcare services is a fundamental human right and central to the performance of the healthcare system as posited by Dassah, Aldersay, McColl and Davison (2018). Ideally, access to healthcare services reflects a need for care, but that is not the case for several social and non-social factors. This is not far-fetched as numerous factors affect access to healthcare services. Access to healthcare is having timely use of personnel and facilities to achieve the best possible health outcome. However, several social and non-social factors have posed a barrier to achieve its objective. According to NCHS (2018), access requires gaining entry as far as it enables patients and physicians to prevent illness, control diseases or manage chronic conditions which could avoid exacerbation or complication of health conditions. Statement of the Problem: In the past, several studies have focused on access to healthcare service which include both social and no- social factors such as education, economic stability, community safety and availability of adequate housing and healthful food, has ISSN: 2230-9926 International Journal of Development Research Vol. 13, Issue, 05, pp. 62837-62843, May, 2023 https://doi.org/10.37118/ijdr.26786.05.2023 Article History: Received 25 th March, 2023 Received in revised form 03 rd April, 2023 Accepted 28 th April, 2023 Published online 30 th May, 2023 Available online at http://www.journalijdr.com Citation: C. T. Oluwadare; A. A. Olorunfemi; and K. E. Igbekoyi. 2023. “Social and non-social factors influencing access to healthcare in ekiti and kogi states of nigeria”. International Journal of Development Research, 13, (05), 62837-62843. RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS KeyWords: Access, Availability, Healthcare, Non-social Factors and Social Factors. *Corresponding author: C. T. Oluwadare,