scholarly journals Evaluation of Health Literacy Levels in Adults: The Case of Ankara Province

Author(s):  
Abdullah Alper Ertem ◽  
Alper Güzel ◽  
Aysu Zekioğlu

The concept of health literacy, which is related to issues such as health behaviors, use of health services, satisfaction, has increased in national and international level in recent years. This concept refers to the individual's cognitive and social skills in health-related issues. The aim of this study is to determine the health literacy levels of individuals living in Ankara. The study was carried out with 387 volunteers. In the study, Adult Health Literacy Scale (AHLS), which consists of 23 questions developed by Sezer, was used. Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis test were used to analyze the data. The average level of health literacy obtained in the study was formulated in accordance with the European Health Literacy Study and the level of international competence was determined. Accordingly, 50.1% (194) of the participants in the study were found to be inadequate, 42.1% (163) limited and 7.8% (30) sufficient health literacy. The level of perfect health literacy has not been found. In order to increase the level of health literacy, roadmaps developed jointly by policy makers and health professionals are needed. As the impact of culture on health literacy is known, developing local strategies is thought to be an effective way to increase the level of health literacy. It is important for healthcare professionals, public health professionals and health educators working in primary health care services to take roles in targeting the target population, developing strategy and communicating in the health literacy process.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingming Zheng ◽  
Lu Shi ◽  
Tiantian Pang ◽  
Willie Leung

Abstract Background: Family doctor contracted services (FDCS) began in China in 2016. Shenzhen, one of the most developed cities in China, implemented a family doctor (FD) policy in 2017. The objectives of this study were to identify the impact of the awareness of the FD and signing with a FD on health care seeking behavior, as well as the impact of chronic disease status on the awareness of FDs and signing with a FD. Methods: Cross-sectional secondary data based on residents living in Luohu district was used for analysis. Linear probability models (LPM) were used to determine the relationship between willingness to use community health care centers (CHCs) and awareness of the FDCS, as well as the association between willingness to use CHCs and signing with a FD. LPM was also used to estimate the association between chronic disease status and awareness of the FDCS, as well as the association between chronic disease status and signing with a FD.Results: Among 1205 adults included in analysis, 27% of the participants knew the FDCS, 5% signed with FD, and 20% had chronic disease. Both awareness of the FDCS and signing with a FD significantly increased the probability of using CHCs. The results indicated that participants with chronic disease were more likely to be aware of the FDCS and sign with a FD.Conclusions: Consequently, this study provided evidence that awareness of FDCS and signing with a FD had positive impact on utilization of primary health care services in the at community level. Also, individuals with chronic disease tend to use FDCS. More interventions to improve awareness of FDCS can help to increase the utilization of primary health care services.


2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1222-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Amélia Zanon Ponce ◽  
Silvia Helena Figueiredo Vendramini ◽  
Marilene Rocha dos Santos ◽  
Maria de Lourdes Sperli Geraldes Santos ◽  
Lúcia Marina Scatena ◽  
...  

This study evaluated the performance of health care services implementing TB control actions in relation to the establishment of bonds between health professionals and patients in São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil from the perspective of patients, health professionals, and managers. A total of 108 patients, 37 health professionals and 15 managers were interviewed through a questionnaire containing 10 indicators of bond-establishment based on the instruments of the Primary Care Assessment Tool, adapted to evaluate tuberculosis control in Brazil. The three groups of actors considered the establishment of bonds satisfactory, though opinions of patients and managers differed in almost all indicators. This fact indicates that the view of managers is still predominantly focused on bureaucratic and administrative aspects, which shows the need for managers to integrate more management and care actions.


2021 ◽  
pp. JNM-D-20-00103
Author(s):  
Hacer Yalniz Dilcen ◽  
Hülya Yurteri Türkmen ◽  
Ali Erdoğan

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to seek evidence for the validity and reliability of the Childbirth Trauma Index Scale, originally developed by Anderson for adolescents, among women in 18–45 age group.MethodTwo hundred twenty women who were in the postpartum period until 72 hours after birth were included in the study. In the study, the Impact of Events Scale was used to test the criterion validity of the Childbirth Trauma Index Scale, being adapted to Turkish.ResultsThe goodness of fit values obtained by the first level CFA (x2 (19, N = 220) 91.75; p < .01; x2/SD = 4.82; CMIN: 91,75; RMSEA = 0.132; CFI = .90; GFI = .90) shows that the proposed two-factor model is acceptable in accordance with the data.ConclusionBirth Trauma Index is recommended to be used as a data collection tool in postpartum clinics and primary health care services by health personnel in order to detect postpartum birth trauma.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 262 ◽  
Author(s):  
I-Hao Cheng ◽  
Sayed Wahidi ◽  
Shiva Vasi ◽  
Sophia Samuel

Refugees can experience problems accessing and utilising Australian primary health care services, resulting in suboptimal health outcomes. Little is known about the impact of their pre-migration health care experiences. This paper demonstrates how the Afghan pre-migration experiences of primary health care can affect engagement with Australian primary care services. It considers the implications for Australian primary health care policy, planning and delivery. This paper is based on the international experiences, insights and expert opinions of the authors, and is underpinned by literature on Afghan health-seeking behaviour. Importantly, Afghanistan and Australia have different primary health care strategies. In Afghanistan, health care is predominantly provided through a community-based outreach approach, namely through community health workers residing in the local community. In contrast, the Australian health care system requires client attendance at formal health service facilities. This difference contributes to service access and utilisation problems. Community engagement is essential to bridge the gap between the Afghan community and Australian primary health care services. This can be achieved through the health sector working to strengthen partnerships between Afghan individuals, communities and health services. Enhanced community engagement has the potential to improve the delivery of primary health care to the Afghan community in Australia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio E Flores Jimenez ◽  
Miguel San Sebastián

Abstract Background In 2008, Ecuador started a national health reform based on the principles of Alma Ata to achieve Universal Health Coverage. While coverage indicators have increased, a systematic assessment of the impact of the reform on the delivery of health services at primary level is lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the 2008 health reform on the performance of primary health care services in Ecuador. Methods Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC) are a subset of diseases where hospital admission is potentially avoidable by high quality well-functioning primary care. Thus, observing the behaviour of ACSC hospitalizations can serve as an indicator of how the primary health care level is performing. Crude and adjusted rates, stratified by sex, were calculated from ten selected ACSC hospitalization discharges during 22 years of data representing 11 years before and after the health reform. An interrupted time series analysis was then conducted by applying a negative binomial regression and adjusting for overdispersion and autocorrelation. Results Overall higher crude and adjusted rates for ACSC hospitalizations were observed in women compared to men; both increased gradually since the start of the observation, reaching a peak around 2010, and then started a downwards trend. In men, the incidence rate ratio increased significantly by 3 % per year during the period before the intervention. During the first year after intervention, an increase (13 %) was detected, and then a statistically significant 1 % decrease (IRR = 0.99; 95 % CI: 0.98, 0.99) was observed in the ACSC rate ratio per year in the period after the intervention. Similar trends and effect sizes were found for women. Conclusions The study revealed significant decreasing trends of the ACSC hospitalization rates in both sexes, indicating an improvement of the performance of the primary health care services following the 2008 national health reform. A continuous strengthening of the primary care model as well as a regular monitoring of ACSC hospitalization rates in the country is recommended. A health economic evaluation considering hospitalizations avoided and associated costs is also advisable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debora Bernardo da Silva ◽  
Taciana Rocha dos Santos Sixel ◽  
Arthur de Almeida Medeiros ◽  
Paulo Henrique dos Santos Mota ◽  
Aylene Bousquat ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Studies on the workforce in rehabilitation in primary health care services are still unusual in health systems analysis. Data on the health worker density at the subnational level in rehabilitation in primary health care are not commonly observed in most health systems. Nevertheless, these data are core for the system's planning and essential for finding the balance between the composition, distribution, and number of workers for rehabilitation actions. Objective This study aims to analyze the temporal space distribution of health professionals with higher education who performed rehabilitation actions in primary health care in Brazil from 2007 to 2020. Method This is an ecological, time-series study on the supply of physiotherapists, audiologists, psychologists, and occupational therapists in primary health care, vis-a-vis the implementation of the Brazilian health policy denominated the Integrated Health Service Network for People with Disabilities. The data were obtained from the National Registry of Health Facilities. The period of analysis was from 2007 to 2020. The health worker density coefficient was calculated per 10,000 inhabitants annually, considering the five geographic regions of Brazil. The time trends of the coefficient of health professionals per year in Brazil and geographic regions were analyzed. For this purpose, joinpoint regression analysis was carried out. The average annual percentage variation was estimated, considering the respective confidence interval of 95%. Results In 2007, there were 0.12 physiotherapists/10,000 inhabitants (2326), 0.05 audiologists/10,000 inhabitants (1024), and 0.205 psychologists/10,000 inhabitants (3762). In 2020, there was an increase in the coefficient of professionals/10,000 inhabitants in all professional categories to 0.47 psychologists (> 268.1%), 0.46 physiotherapists (> 424.8%), 0.14 audiologists (> 297.1%), and 0.04 occupational therapists (> 504.5%). There was a significant increase in the supply of physiotherapists (AAPC: 10.8), audiologists (AAPC: 7.6), psychologists (AAPC: 6.8), and occupational therapists (AAPC: 28.3), with little regional variation. Conclusion Public health policies for rehabilitation have contributed to an increase in the workforce caring for people with disabilities in primary health care services. An increase in the workforce of physiotherapists, audiologists, psychologists, and occupational therapists was observed throughout the period studied in all regions.


Author(s):  
Jiawei Zhang ◽  
Peien Han ◽  
Yan Sun ◽  
Jingyu Zhao ◽  
Li Yang

Primary health care has been emphasized as a pillar of China’s current round of health reforms throughout the previous decade. The purpose of this study is to analyze the accessibility of primary health care services in Beijing and to identify locations with a relative scarcity of health personnel. Seven ecological conservation districts, which are relatively underdeveloped, were selected in the study. The Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve, as well as the shortest trip time and modified two-step floating catchment area (M2SFCA) approach, are used to quantify inequalities in primary health care resources and spatial accessibility. The Gini coefficient of primary medical services was calculated as high as 0.705, showing a significant disparity in primary care services. A total of 81.22% of communities reached the nearest primary care institution within 15 min. The average accessibility of primary healthcare services, as measured by the number of health professionals per 1000 population, was 2.34 in the 1715 communities of seven ecological conservation districts. Three hundred and ninety-one communities (22.80%) were identified with relatively low accessibility. More primary health professionals should be allocated to Miyun, Mentougou, and Changping Districts. Overall, the primary healthcare resources were distributed unevenly in most districts. According to our study, expanding primary healthcare institutions, increasing the number of competent health professionals, and enhancing road networks will all be effective ways to increase spatial access and reduce primary healthcare service disparity in Beijing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Brandon ◽  
Marilyn Ballantyne ◽  
Melanie Penner ◽  
Andrea Lauzon ◽  
Erin McCarvill

AbstractBackgroundYoung adults with childhood-onset disabilities experience challenges with accessing age appropriate primary health care services as they transition from pediatric to adult health care services. They often experience a negative impact on their health with associated long-term health and social concerns, disease complications and increased use of emergency services once transitioned to adult services. This is particularly challenging for youth with cerebral palsy (CP) due the complexity of their medical needs. The aim of this study was to explore experiences with accessing or providing primary care services for transitioned-aged young adults with CP from young adult, parent, pediatrician and primary care physician perspectives.MethodsA qualitative descriptive design was conducted to identify the challenges and facilitators for transitioned aged young adults with accessing primary, adult care services. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants within the circle of care (4 adults with CP, 4 parents, 4 pediatricians and 4 primary healthcare physicians) for individuals with CP in Toronto, Canada. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative analysis guided both the data collection and the data analysis processes.ResultsData analysis revealed that all participant groups reported transition challenges with respect to accessibility, the suitability of some primary care environments for caring for individuals with complex care needs, gaps in seamless care, and limited time and funding when receiving or providing primary care services to young adults with CP.DiscussionThere is a greater demand for adult healthcare providers now to deliver services for adults with childhood onset disabilities. Transition-aged young adults with CP and complex medical needs have increased challenges with accessing primary care services. Considering the following would improve primary care services transition for this population with complex medical needs: ongoing partnering between pediatric and adult health care streams to promote seamless care; connection to team-based primary care services where family physicians, subspecialties and interprofessional practitioners work together to provide joint care planning; salary compensation for increased service needs due to medical complexity; accessible sites; and development of guidelines for transitioning youth/young adults with complex care needs.


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