What Qualifies For A Good Health Care Facility? – Perspective of A Rural Community
What Qualifies For A Good Health Care Facility? – Perspective of A Rural Community
Keywords:
qualitative research, primary health care, primary care physicians, focus group discussion, patient’s expectationAbstract
Background: Understanding the perception and expectations of the community from the primary healthcare institutions are essential to improve the utilization of the services. In rural settings, the utilization of health services is largely driven by community’s opinion than of individual’s. This aspect is relatively less explored. Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the expectation of rural community from Health Care Centre in Puducherry. Methods: This qualitative study used Focus Group Discussion for capturing the community’s opinion. The study participants of more than 18 years of age were selected through purposive sampling from the service area of a rural health and training center (RHC). The FGDs were audio recorded and transcribed to English. Deductive manual content analysis of the transcript was done using a set of a priori codes and categories. Results: In total three FGDs were conducted till the point of information saturation. Two broad categories emerged out of the FGDs, viz., expectations regarding behaviour of the doctor and expectations regarding the infrastructure of the PHC. Adequate time for each consultation with thorough physical examination and explanation about the illness and treatment were the expectations from a good doctor. The participants also felt that a good health facility should be accessible, with availability of medicines and laboratory investigation, quiet consultation rooms and minimal waiting time. Certain expectations such as injections for trivial indications were expressed during FGDs. Conclusion: To be a successful Primary Healthcare practitioner, the doctor should interact with the patient at an emotional, cultural and intellectual plane. At the same time the physician should also address the misconceptions of the community. [Gomathi R NJIRM 2017; 8(5):44-48]
References
2. Rao KD, Peters DH, Bandeen-Roche K. Towards patient-centered health services in India—a scale to measure patient perceptions of quality. Int J Qual Heal Care. 2006;18(6):414–21.
3. McKinley R, Stevenson K, Adams S, Manku-Scott T. Meeting patient expectations of care: the major determinant of satisfaction with out-of-hours primary medical care? Fam Pract [Internet]. 2002 [cited 2017 Jan 27];19(4):333–8. Available from: http://fampra.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/doi/10.1093/fampra/19.4.333
4. Afkhamebrahimi A, Esfehani MN. Patients’ expectations and satisfaction with their health provider. Glob J Community Psychol Pract [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2017 Jan 27];3(4):E1-3. Available from: http://www.gjcpp.org/en/article.php?issue=9&article=54
5. Tong A, Sainsbury P, Craig J. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. Int J Qual Health Care. 2007;19(6):349-357.
6. Westaway MS, Rheeder P, Van Zyl DG, Seager JR. Interpersonal and organizational dimensions of patient satisfaction: the moderating effects of health status. Int J Qual Heal Care. 2003;15(4).
7. Goel S, Sharma D, Bahuguna P, Raj S, Singh A. Predictors of Patient Satisfaction in Three Tiers of Health Care Facilities of North India. Community Med Heal Educ Goel J Community Med Heal Educ [Internet]. 2014; Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2161-0711.S2-002
8. Vidhya K, Rajakumar S. Emotional Attachment and its Impact on Perceived Service Quality and Patient Satisfaction in Puducherry Hospitals. Asia Pacific J Research 2015;31(1):100-8
9. Aldana JM, Piechulek H, Al-Sabir A. Client satisfaction and quality of health care in rural Bangladesh. Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79:512–7.
10. Trumble SC, O’Brien ML, O’Brien M, Hartwig B. Communication skills training for doctors increases patient satisfaction. Haslam J, editor. Clin Gov An Int J [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2016 Nov 11];11(4):299–307. Available from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/10.1108/14777270610708832
11. Kambala C, Lohmann J, Mazalale J, Brenner S, De Allegri M, Muula AS, et al. How do Malawian women rate the quality of maternal and newborn care? Experiences and perceptions of women in the central and southern regions. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2016 Nov 11];15(1):169. Available from:http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-015-0560-x
12. Janjua NZ, Hutin YJ, Akhtar S, Ahmad K. Population beliefs about the efficacy of injections in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Public Health. 2006;120(9):824–33.
13. Gyawali S, Rathore DS, Shankar PR, Kumar VKC, Maskey M, Jha N. Injection practice in Kaski district, Western Nepal: a community perspective. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:435.
14. Expectations of primary care patients in rural Karnataka [Internet]. Available from: http://www.pjms.com.pk/issues/julsep07/article/article12.html
15. Shabason JE, Mao JJ, Frankel ES, Vapiwala N. Shared decision-making and patient control in radiation oncology: Implications for patient satisfaction. Cancer [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2017 Jan 12];120(12):1863–70. Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cncr.28665
16. Indian Public Health Standards - Governnment of India [Internet]. [cited 2017 Jan 27]. Available from: http://nrhm.gov.in/nhm/nrhm/guidelines/indian-public-health-standards.html
