Rural and Metropolitan Community Health: Celebrating the Strengths

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Angela Littleford ◽  
Debbie Martin ◽  
Lee Martinez ◽  
Angela May

The paper outlines the strengths, similarities and differences of metropolitan and rural community health sectors. Case studies are used to look at the history of community health in South Australia, its current status is described and some future directions are proposed. Perspectives are drawn from the authors' collective experiences. Rural and metropolitan community health services in South Australia have developed from different models since they were established in the 1970s. Rural community health services have invariably been established as entities within hospitals and health services, although metropolitan community health services have generally been established as stand alone facilities independent of the acute sector. To illustrate this, two case studies are used to demonstrate the evolution of metropolitan and rural community health services.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenling Hu ◽  
Huanqing Hu ◽  
Wei Zhao ◽  
Aiqun Huang ◽  
Qi Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Antenatal care (ANC) played a crucial role in ensuring maternal and child safety and reducing the risk of complications, disability, and death in mothers and their infants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current status of ANC emphasizing the number, timing, and content of examinations on a national scale. Methods The data was collected from maternal and newborn’s health monitoring system at 8 provinces in China. After ethical approval, all pregnant women registered in the system at their first prenatal care visit, we included 49,084 pregnant women who had delivered between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018. Descriptive statistics of all study variables were calculated proportions and chi-square for categorical variables. Results Of the 49,084 women included in this study, the mean number of ANC visits was 6.95 ± 3.45. By percentage, 78.79% women received ANC examinations at least five times, 39.93% of the women received ANC examinations at least eight times and 16.66% of the women received ANC examinations at least 11 times. The proportion of first ANC examination in first trimester was 61.87%. The percentage of normative ANC examinations and the percentage of qualified ANC examinations were 30.98 and 8.03% respectively. Only 49.40% of the total women received all six kinds of examination items in first ANC examination: 91.47% received a blood test, 91.62% received a urine test, 81.56% received a liver function examination, 80.52% received a renal function examination, 79.07% received a blood glucose test, and 86.66% received a HIV/HBV/syphilis tests. 50.85% women received the first ANC examination in maternal and child health care (MCH) institutions, 14.07% in a general hospital, 18.83% in a township hospital, 13.15% in a community health services center, and 3.08% in an unspecified place. The proportion of women who received each of the ANC examination items in community health services center was the highest, but that in the MCH institutions was the lowest. Conclusions There is a big difference between the results of this study and the data in official reports, this study found the current status of antenatal care is not optimal in China, findings from this study suggest that the systematization, continuity and quality of ANC examinations need to be improved.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Guzys ◽  
Guinever Threlkeld ◽  
Virginia Dickson-Swift ◽  
Amanda Kenny

Much has been written about the composition of health service boards and the importance of recruiting people with skills appropriate for effective and accountable governance of health services. Governance training aims to educate directors on their governance responsibilities; however, the way in which these responsibilities are discharged is informed by board members’ understanding of health within their communities. The aim of this study was to identify how those engaged in determining the strategic direction of local regional or rural community health services in Victoria, Australia, perceived the health and health improvement needs of their community. The Delphi technique was employed to facilitate communication between participants from difference geographic locations. The findings of the study highlight the different ways that participants view the health of their community. Participants prioritised indicators of community health that do not align with standard measures used by government to plan for, fund or report on health. Devolved governance of healthcare services aims to improve local healthcare responsiveness. Yet, if not accompanied with the redistribution of resources and power, policy claimed to promote localised decision-making is simply tokenistic.


2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Gwyneth M. Jolley ◽  
Stacey Masters

This paper describes the links between community health services and non-government organisations in two regions of South Australia, and the factors impacting on these collaborative ventures. Changes in the organisation and funding of human services have created both opportunities and challenges for community health services and non-government organisations, as distinct entities and in relationship with one another. This study confirms that there are primary promoters of, and requisites for, effective collaboration, such as shared client group, similar values and approaches, and capacity at individual and organisational levels. Time and resource constraints are revealed as the most significant barriers to collaboration. Government policy and practice have a powerful influence on collaboration between community health services and non-government organisations. Government policy directions and models of funding may act to support or inhibit collaboration and the effects of these should be evaluated in terms of their impact on the capacity of organisations to work together to provide integrated and coordinated care.


1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Gwyneth Jolley ◽  
Libby Kalucy ◽  
Joanne McNamara

Client feedback is an important component of two primary health care strategies: participation and evaluation. Workers need feedback from clients to ensure that their practice meets the criterion of providing affordable, accessible and appropriate services to enhance the health of their communities. Telephone interviews were conducted with thirty staff and thirty clients from women's and community health services in South Australia, to identify current practice in obtaining and using feedback from users of one-to-one services and group health promotion and community development activities. Factors which encourage feedback to be given and used include: trust and effective communications between all stakeholders; and supportive organisational philosophies, culture and practices. Client feedback is more likely to be used when given in written form. Collection and use of feedback are discouraged by inappropriate methods and timing, rapid organisational change, and clients' lack of awareness of, or confidence in, giving feedback about the services they receive. Verbal feedback, although preferred by many clients, is less likely to be recorded and used in service planning and evaluation. Client feedback is a valuable tool to reinforce the notion of partnership and power sharing between clients and health care workers. Staff at all levels should be engaged in obtaining feedback and the information gained should be disseminated throughout the agency in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of services. The challenge is now for service providers and users to adopt new, and support currently successful, ways of obtaining and using feedback so that service providers and users are engaged in working in partnership to ensure the needs of the community are best met.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136749352110058
Author(s):  
Helen J Nelson ◽  
Catherine Pienaar ◽  
Anne M Williams ◽  
Ailsa Munns ◽  
Katie McKenzie ◽  
...  

Patient experience surveys have a user focus and measure the quality of person-centered health care for hospital inpatients and consumers of community health services, providing a governance process to evaluate the quality of care and to action improvement. Experience of care has been described as effective communication, respect and dignity, and emotional support. Measurement criteria for these domains are not standardized, leading to inconsistent reporting of patient experience. The objective of this scoping review was to synthesize evidence for measuring experience of care in children’s community health services using the Joanna Briggs Institute framework for scoping review method. Three parent-reported surveys met the inclusion criteria, and 50 survey items were assessed by expert reviewers for fit to domains of healthcare experience. Conceptual domains of parent experience in children’s community health services included respect and dignity, effective communication, and emotional support. A gap was identified, in that few items in identified surveys measured emotional support. This contribution will promote consistent reporting of healthcare experience, informing policy and practice for person-centered health care.


1971 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
ROSELLA. CUNNINGHAM

1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 546
Author(s):  
Hodgman ◽  
Callahan Eileen

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