Communication Vulnerability within Singapore’s Healthcare Environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 201010582110686
Author(s):  
Teck W. William Go ◽  
Hoi T. Mok ◽  
Sanchalika Acharyya ◽  
Darlin C. Suelo ◽  
Eu C. Ho

Communication difficulties can, and often do, create barriers between patients and healthcare workers (HCWs). We examined the perceptual differences between patients and caregivers; and HCWs with regards to their perceived communication vulnerabilities and identified communication needs in a tertiary hospital. A survey was conducted in selected outpatient settings among patients, their caregivers and HCWs, in a cross-sectional study. Respondents rated the reasons and frequency of encountering the communication difficulties during a hospital visit. Fifty-four percent of patients and caregivers cited poor hearing in the presence of noise, while HCWs cited patient’s poor vision (87%) as their primary communication barrier that requires improvement. Majority of HCWs (90%) had encountered patients who presented multiple communication barriers a quarter of the time. A third of HCWs felt that such encounters were especially challenging during communication, with very limited strategies available to deal with such communication vulnerable individuals. Patients, caregivers and HCWs universally experience communication challenges, even if their perceived barriers to communication happen to differ. Such perceptual difference between patients and HCWs may lead to inconsistent use of communication strategies by HCWs, potentially compromising patient’s healthcare needs. Nonetheless, the onus is on healthcare providers to bridge this communication gap to improve patient care.

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Syed Meraj Ahmed ◽  
Faisal Alhumaidi Alruways ◽  
Thamer Fahad Alsallum ◽  
Meshal Munahi Almutairi ◽  
Abdullah Saif Al-Subhi ◽  
...  

<span lang="EN-US">Use of social media for patient care is the new frontier in the healthcare indus-try. Sharing of information between the clinicians and their patients is now so much easier. In slowly gaining a foothold worldwide it needs a healthy push to make it universally accepta-ble. Study the knowledge, attitude, and practices of healthcare providers on the usage of social media in their clinical practice.</span><span lang="EN-US">A baseline cross – sectional study was conducted among 200 healthcare professionals from March 2015 to September 2015 on their knowledge, attitude, and practices in the use of social media for patient care in Majmaah, Saudi Arabia. A close ended self – administered validated questionnaire was used to gather data which was analyzed by using the SPSS ver. 21.0 software. 55.3% participants used social media for both professional and personal reasons. Some (25.3%) specified using it for patient care while a significant majority (52.9%) opined that it can be successfully used for patient interaction. Nearly 55% agreed that social media should not be banned due to its benefits as an efficient tool for patient communication. </span><span>S</span><span lang="EN-US">ocial media use for pa-tient doctor interaction should be encouraged to improve patient care through effective com-munication.</span>


Author(s):  
Ju Young Kim ◽  
Dae In Kim ◽  
Hwa Yeon Park ◽  
Yuliya Pak ◽  
Phap Ngoc Hoang Tran ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to examine the current utilization of healthcare services, exploring unmet healthcare needs and the associated factors among people living in rural Vietnam. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 233 participants in a rural area. The methods included face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire, and anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. We considered participants to have unmet health needs if they had any kind of health problem during the past 12 months for which they were unable to see a healthcare provider. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with unmet healthcare needs. Of the participants, 18% (n = 43) had unmet healthcare needs, for reasons like transportation (30%), a lack of available doctors or medicine (47%), and communication issues with healthcare providers (16%). The multivariate logistic regression showed that living in a rural area, having stage 2 hypertension, and having insurance were associated with unmet healthcare needs. To better meet the healthcare needs in rural or suburban areas of Vietnam, allocation of adequate healthcare resources should be distributed in rural areas and insurance coverage for personalized healthcare needs might be required. Efforts should focus on availability of medicine, improvement of transportation systems, and communication skills of healthcare providers to improve access to healthcare services.


Medicina ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Bai James ◽  
Jon Wardle ◽  
Amie Steel ◽  
Jon Adams

Background and objectives: In addition to conventional healthcare, Ebola survivors are known to seek traditional and complementary healthcare (T&CM) options to meet their healthcare needs. However, little is known about the general beliefs of Ebola survivors regarding T&CM and the impact of these beliefs in influencing their decisions around T&CM use. This study examines Ebola survivors’ attitudes towards T&CM use in Sierra Leone. Materials and Methods: We conducted a nationwide quantitative cross-sectional study of 358 Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone between January and August 2018. We used descriptive analysis, chi-square tests and backward stepwise binary logistic regression for data analysis. Results: Close to half of the survivors (n = 163, 45.5%) had used T&CM since their discharge from an Ebola treatment centre. Survivors who viewed T&CM as boosting their immune system/resistance were 3.89 times (95%CI: 1.57–9.63, p = 0.003) more likely to use T&CM than those who did not view T&CM as boosting their immune system/resistance. Additionally, survivors who viewed T&CM as having fewer side effects than conventional medicine were more likely to use T&CM [OR = 5.03 (95%CI: 1.92–13.19, p = 0.001)]. Ebola survivors were more influenced to use T&CM based on their personal experience of the effectiveness of T&CM than by clinical evidence [OR = 13.72 (95%CI: 6.10–30.84, P < 0.001)]. Ebola survivors who perceived T&CM as providing them with more control than conventional medicine over their health/body were more likely to use T&CM [OR = 4.15 (95%CI: 1.74–9.89, p = 0.001)] as opposed to those who did not perceive T&CM in this way. Conclusions: Considering the widespread use of T&CM, an understanding of Ebola survivors’ attitudes/beliefs towards T&CM is useful to healthcare providers and policymakers with regard to public education and practitioner–survivors communication, T&CM regulation and research in Sierra Leone. Ebola survivors appear to turn to T&CM not only for treatment, but also to fill gaps in conventional health care services.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ju Young Kim ◽  
Ju Young Kim ◽  
Dae In Kim ◽  
Hwa Yeon Park ◽  
Yuliya Pak ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Although health status in Vietnam has been much improved, people living in rural areas have faced several challenges, including a rapid increase of the aging population, inadequate capacity of health system, and problems of inequities in access to the healthcare system. The purpose of this study was to examine the current utilization of healthcare services, exploring unmet healthcare needs and their associated factors among adults living in rural Vietnam.Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted with 233 participants in a rural area of Binh Phuoc province and a suburban area of Da Lat city in Vietnam from October–December 2017. The methods included face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire as well as anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. We considered participants to have unmet health needs if they had any kind of health problem during the past 12 months for which they were unable to see a healthcare provider in the same period. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with unmet healthcare needs.Results: Of the participants, 18% (n=43) had unmet healthcare needs. The common causes of unmet healthcare were transportation (30%), a lack of available doctors or medicines (47%), and communication issues with healthcare providers (16%). The multivariate logistic regression showed that having stage 2 high blood pressure and reporting no place to go for medical problems were associated with unmet healthcare needs.Conclusions: Healthcare services are still needed in disadvantaged group living in rural or suburban area of Vietnam. Efforts should focus on availability of medicines, improvement of transportation system as well as communication skills of healthcare providers to improve access to healthcare services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 2075-2078
Author(s):  
Mohammad Shakil Ahmad

Introduction: Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) consists of solids, liquids, sharps and laboratory waste that are potentially infectious and dangerous. In India, lack of knowledge and practice in relation to availability of resources and processes in place has been reported in many studies. Hence, the present study has been carried out with an objective of assessing awareness and practices of healthcare providers regarding BMW. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in tertiary care hospital with 300 beds in Karnataka over a period of one month using preformed, pre-structured proforma. Results: Almost all health personnel were aware about BMW guidelines; adequate segregation of BMW was noticed in only 4 sites (11.8%). Conclusion: The awareness about BMW management among healthcare providers in our study was found to be adequate but with low segregation practices. The staffs are well aware to manage the spills and will use if all the sites are provided with spill kits. Key words: Biomedical waste, color coding, India, tertiary hospital, waste segregation


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Syed Meraj Ahmed ◽  
Faisal Alhumaidi Alruways ◽  
Thamer Fahad Alsallum ◽  
Meshal Munahi Almutairi ◽  
Abdullah Saif Al-Subhi ◽  
...  

Use of social media for patient care is the new frontier in the healthcare indus-try. Sharing of information between the clinicians and their patients is now so much easier. In slowly gaining a foothold worldwide it needs a healthy push to make it universally accepta-ble. Study the knowledge, attitude, and practices of healthcare providers on the usage of social media in their clinical practice.A baseline cross–sectional study was conducted among 200 healthcare professionals from March 2015 to September 2015 on their knowledge, attitude, and practices in the use of social media for patient care in Majmaah, Saudi Arabia. A close ended self – administered validated questionnaire was used to gather data which was analyzed by using the SPSS ver. 21.0 software. 55.3% participants used social media for both professional and personal reasons. Some (25.3%) specified using it for patient care while a significant majority (52.9%) opined that it can be successfully used for patient interaction. Nearly 55% agreed that social media should not be banned due to its benefits as an efficient tool for patient communication. Social media use for pa-tient doctor interaction should be encouraged to improve patient care through effective communication.


2020 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2020-002239
Author(s):  
Teresa Tan ◽  
Pei Lin Koh ◽  
Marcia Levetown ◽  
Lisa Wong ◽  
Joanne Lee ◽  
...  

ObjectivesDeath is a significant event that affects healthcare providers emotionally. We aimed to determine internal medicine (IM) and paediatric (PD) residents’ responses and the impact on the residents following patient deaths, and to compare any differences between IM and PD residents. We also aimed to determine whether sufficient resources and measures were in place to support residents through their grief process.MethodsThis is a single-centre, cross-sectional study involving residents from IM and PD programmes from an academic tertiary hospital in Singapore. The residents completed a questionnaire regarding their responses and emotions after experiencing patient deaths.ResultsA total of 122 residents (85 IM and 37 PD, equally distributed between year 1 to year 4 of residency training) participated, with 100% response rate. Only half (57%) felt they would be comfortable treating a dying patient and 66.4% reported feeling sad following their patient’s death. Most (79.5%) were not aware of support resources that were available and 82% agreed that formal bereavement training should be included in the residency curriculum. PD residents had more negative symptoms than IM residents, with poor concentration (PD 35.1% vs IM 16.5%, p=0.02) and lethargy (PD 35.1% vs IM 9.4%, p<0.01) being the most common.ConclusionIn our Asian context, residents are negatively affected by patient deaths, especially the PD residents. There is a need to incorporate relevant bereavement training for all residents.


Author(s):  
M. P. Efeoghene ◽  
J. C. Eze ◽  
F. U. Idigo ◽  
C. C. Ohagwu ◽  
M. S. Okpalaeke ◽  
...  

Patient satisfaction may be regarded as a subjective idea which helps patient assess and rate the quality of care they obtain from healthcare providers. This study was aimed to assessing patients’ satisfaction level with radio-diagnostic services in National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi Lagos (NOHIL), Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 194 patients that visited the General Outpatient Department (GOPD) clinic twice or more from July 2019 to August 2019. Convenience sampling technique was used for sample collection. Ethical approval was obtained from the Human Research and Ethics Committee of NOHIL and participants’ consent was also obtained.  Data were collected by the use of questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Findings were significant at P < 0.05. The findings from the study showed that majority of the patients (92.3%) were satisfied with the quality of the x rays produced and the friendly nature of the radiographers (77.8%).The patients’ satisfaction with radio diagnostic services in this center could be said to be very low as patients opined that they were dissatisfied with most of the services rendered. There is a need for the radiographers to be punctual to duty as this will help reduce the long waiting time experienced by the respondents.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emad Aborajooh ◽  
Mohammed Qussay Al-Sabbagh ◽  
Baraa Mafrachi ◽  
Muhammad Yassin ◽  
Rami Dwairi ◽  
...  

UNSTRUCTURED We aimed to measure levels of knowledge, awareness, and stress about COVID-19 among health care providers (HCP) in Jordan. This was a cross-sectional study on 397 HCPs that utilized an internet-based questionnaire to evaluate knowledge about COVID-19, availability of personal protective equipment (PEE), future perception, and psychological distress. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate factors associated with knowledge and psychological stress. Overall, 24.4% and 21.2% of the participants showed excellent knowledge and poor knowledge, respectively. Social media (61.7%) was the most commonly used source of information. Being female (β= 0.521, 95% CI 0.049 to 0.992), physician (β=1.421, 95% CI 0.849 to 1.992), or using literature to gain knowledge (β= 1.161, 95% CI 0.657 to 1.664) were positive predictors of higher knowledge. While having higher stress (β= -0.854, 95% CI -1.488 to -0.221) and using social media (β= -0.434, 95% CI -0.865 to -0.003) or conventional media (β= -0.884, 95% CI -1.358 to -0.409) for information were negative predictors of knowledge levels. HCPs are advised to use the literature as a source of information about the virus, its transmission, and the best practice. PPEs should be secured for HCPs to the psychological stress associated with treating COVID-19 patients.


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