Affordability, Accessibility, and Quality of Maternal Health Care Services and Level of Satisfaction of Mothers in Rural Areas in China

Objective:This study aimed to understand the affordability,accessibility,and quality of maternal and child health services for postpartum mothers,and their impact on satisfaction.Methods:The study utilized the Anderson model and revised the Maternal Pregnancy and Perinatal Health Service Questionnaire.A survey was conducted among 289 mothers aged 20–49 in Feicheng City.Results:Regarding accessibility,most respondents(133)reported that travel time to healthcare services exceeded 60 minutes,while 99 respondents indicated a travel time of 16–30 minutes.The issue of affordability was highlighted,with 86.85%of participants perceiving maternal healthcare services as costly,indicating a significant financial burden.More than 50%of respondents were satisfied with two specific dimensions(P<0.05)regarding the quality of maternal healthcare services.Conclusion:The study found that accessibility,affordability,and quality significantly affect mothers’satisfaction with maternal health services.Future research should focus on developing more suitable service pathways for rural mothers.

The effect of high-fidelity simulation in medical nursing based on the healthcare simulation standards of best practice

Background:High-fidelity simulation has been demonstrated to make great progress in learning.However,there is still ongoing exploration on how to fully harness the advantages of this teaching method and enhance its effectiveness.This study conducted high-fidelity simulation in medical nursing based on the Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice and evaluated its effect.Methods:The study was conducted from September 2019 to June 2020.A total of 82 undergraduate nursing students from a university in Shanghai participated in the high-fidelity simulation in medical nursing.The simulation design scale,educational practices in simulation scale,and students’satisfaction and self-confidence were used to evaluate the effect.Results:The mean score of simulation design scale was 4.06±0.63 with the mean scores of all dimensions being over 3.0.The mean score of educational practices in simulation scale was 4.14±0.56 with the mean scores of all dimensions being over 4.0.The mean scores of students’satisfaction and self-confidence were 4.07±0.72 and 3.89±0.58,respectively.Conclusion:Students reported high levels of simulation design and educational practices in simulation.They were also satisfied with learning and reported high levels of self-confidence.Some key points need to be considered so that the learning effects might be optimized.

A Scale of Parental Anxiety about Pediatric Emergency Medical Care Services of Japan: Development, Reliability, Validity, Generalizability and Usefulness

Aim: The purpose of this study was to develop a scale, “parental anxiety about pediatric emergency medical care services” (PAPEMCS), and to evaluate its psychometric properties. Methods: Participants were 14,510 parents with children 6 years old or younger in Kagawa Prefecture. Using each half of the participants, exploratory factor analysis was performed to generate items and factors for the PAPEMCS, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to establish the construct validity. The generalizability of the PAPEMCS was evaluated by congruence tests and multigroup CFA. The usefulness of the PAPEMCS was established by the relationship between the PAPEMCS and non-urgent usage of pediatric emergency medical care services (PEMCS). Results: The PAPEMCS compromised 4 factors: “anxiety about quality of PEMCS”, “anxiety about PEMCS system”, “anxiety about public support”, and “anxiety about private support”. All reliability estimates (polychoric ordinal alpha coefficients, item-rest correlations), the item discrimination, 5 fit indices for CFA, the convergent validity (indicator reliabilities, composite reliabilities, average variance extracteds), and the discriminant validity fulfilled the acceptability thresholds. All generalizability estimates fulfilled the predetermined levels of acceptability (Tucker’s congruence coefficients, congruence tests, strict factorial invariance). The usefulness of the PAPEMCS was established by the higher scores of the PAPEMCS being related to non-urgent usage of PEMCS. Conclusions: The PAPEMCS demonstrated satisfactory reliability, validity, generalizability and usefulness. The PAPEMCS is useful to quantify the contents and extent of parental anxiety about PEMCS, and to clarify the mechanisms of non-urgent PEMCS usage.

Impact of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme on Health Care Service Utilization in Rural China

Using the 2000, 2004, and 2006 CHNS longitudinal survey data and econometric methods （random-effect probit regression model and DID methods）, this study conducted an empirical analysis to estimate the impact of NCMS. The major conclusions are as follows. First, predisposing factors, enabling factors, health care need factors, and lifestyle factors affect health care utilization. Second, results using DID methods indicate that NCMS did not affect health care service utilization （outpatient and inpatient） of individuals when ill, but it might increase the possibility of getting a health examination. Third, there is no difference in health care service utilization （both outpatient and inpatient） between the NCMS enrollment group and the non-enrollment group in both working age group （15-59） and the elderly group （60 and over）. Therefore, it can be said that NCMS did not affect the health care utilization in both the group. However, NCMS positively affects disease prevention behavior （visiting the hospital to receive a health examination） in the working age group, but the effect did not appear in the elderly group.

Research on the Construction of Pharmacy Organization and the Development of Pharmaceutical Services in China’s Primary Medical and Health Institutions—Based on the Survey of 5 Provinces

Objective To explore the current situation and problems of the pharmacy organization and pharmaceutical services in primary medical and health institutions so as to provide a reference for improving relevant policies.Methods Multi-stage stratified random sampling was used to collect questionnaires from primary medical and health institutions in 5 provinces,and 102 questionnaires were distributed.Then Excel 2016 and IBM SPSS 21.0 software were applied for descriptive statistical analysis,chi-square test and multiple response analysis.Results and Conclusion A total of 92 primary medical and health institutions participated in the survey,and 92 valid questionnaires were recovered.The survey shows that 54.1%of the institutions have established more than 8 pharmaceutical administration regulations.63.5%and 31.8%of the institutions have formulated pharmaceutical administration and pharmacotherapy team charters(or management systems).29.7%of institutions have pharmacy personnel in accordance with relevant regulations.The higher proportion of pharmacy services are prescription review and adjustment,medication guidance,collecting and reporting adverse reactions,medication errors and medication hazard information.Primary medical and health institutions still need to further improve their pharmaceutical administration system,organizational structure,pharmacy professional training and clinical pharmacy service.

Impact of Tobacco Smoking on Health Care Utilization and Medical Costs in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease,Coronary Heart Disease and Diabetes

Objective To determine the impact of smoking on disease-specific health care utilization and medical costs in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases(NCDs).Methods Participants were middle-aged and elderly adults with chronic NCDs from a prospective cohort in China.Logistic regressions and linear models were used to assess the relationship between tobacco smoking,health care utilization and medical costs.Results Totally,1020 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD),3144 patients with coronary heart disease(CHD),and 1405 patients with diabetes were included in the analysis.Among patients with COPD,current smokers(β:0.030,95%CI:−0.032-0.092)and former smokers(β:0.072,95%CI:0.014-0.131)had 3.0%and 7.2%higher total medical costs than never smokers.Medical costs of patients who had smoked for 21-40 years(β:0.028,95%CI:−0.038-0.094)and≥41 years(β:0.053,95%CI:−0.004β0.110)were higher than those of never smokers.Patients who smoked≥21 cigarettes(β:0.145,95%CI:0.051-0.239)per day had more inpatient visits than never smokers.The association between smoking and health care utilization and medical costs in people with CHD group was similar to that in people with COPD;however,there were no significant associations in people with diabetes.Conclusion This study reveals that the impact of smoking on health care utilization and medical costs varies among patients with COPD,CHD,and diabetes.Tobacco control might be more effective at reducing the burden of disease for patients with COPD and CHD than for patients with diabetes.

U. S. Academic Medical Centers Under the Managed Health Care Environment

This research investigates the impact of managed health care on academic medical centers in the United States. Academic medical centers hold a unique position in the U. S. health care system through their missions of conducting cutting-edge biomedical researeh, pursuing clinical and technological innovations, Providing state-of-the-art medical care and producing highly qUalified health professionals. However, policies to control costs through the use of managed care and limiting resources are detrimental to academic medical centers and impede the advancement of medical sciTo survive the threats of managed care in the health care environment, acadendc medical centers must rely on their upper level managers to derive successful strategies. The methods used in this study include qualitative approaches in the form of key informants and case studies. In addition, a survey questionnaire was sent to 1h8 CEOs in all the academic medical centers in the U. S. The findings revealed that managers who perform the liaison, monitor, entrepreneur and resource allocator roles are crucial to ensure the survival of academic medical centers, so that academic medical centers can continue their missions to serve the general public and promote their well-being.

Operationalizing Adolescent Health Services at Primary Health Care Level in India: Processes, Challenges and Outputs

Background: Ministry of Health, Government of India developed the Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) strategy and operationalized adolescent health services up to district and sub-district hospital level. Objectives: To operationalize adolescent health services at primary health care level in a block of Maharashtra;assess impact of need based interventions on quality of services;and understand potential for scalability in the state. Methods: Adolescent and Youth friendly centers were established at primary health care settings and interventions such as health system strengthening, sensitizing gatekeepers, involving Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHAs), developing inter and intra-sectoral linkages, improving monitoring and evaluation were tested. Results: Over a period of 2009-2014, there was a steady increase in the number of clients attending the Adolescent and Youth Friendly Health Centers (A&YFHCs). Attitude of providers to address adolescents’ needs improved significantly. Successful interventions were networking with schools, colleges and Non Government Organization (NGOs), linkages with HIV program and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), and involvement of ASHAs. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that although health system has the primary responsibility of addressing health issues among adolescents;it has limitations in terms of its reach to adolescents and generating demand for services. There is a need to network with education sector, ICDS, NGOs working for adolescent health and development to work as a team and address the multifaceted needs of the adolescents. Such a strategy will be crucial while implementing the recently launched Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram— the new national adolescent health programme in India.

Access to Child Health Care, Medical Treatment of Sick Children and Childhood Mortality Relationships in Kenya

Child health care factors such as medical treatment of sick children have direct and indirect effect on childhood mortality. Through international cooperation, a number of countries including Kenya have gathered information on provision of child health services at facility level from periodic Service Provision Assessment (SPA) surveys. Kenya has also gathered information on medical treatment of sick children at household level from periodic Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). However, establishing how health care information in the SPA surveys relates to childhood mortality and also how these factors relate to medical treatment of sick children in the DHS has been constrained by differences in sample designs of the surveys. This study deployed a fstrategy of constructing community level variables derived from the SPA survey data and incorporated them into DHS data which served as the main data source. The SPA and DHS sampling designs for Kenya allow computation of stable estimates of regional demographic and health service indicators at provincial level. This study analyzed information gathered from 690 health facilities in 2010 SPA and 6079 births born less than 60 months from 2008/09 DHS. The study found that access to child health services, waiting time before service in facility and time to the nearest referral facility were significant facilitating factors for medical treatment of sick children. The study also established that waiting time before service in facility was the only access to health care factor which had a significant effect on childhood mortality when HIV prevalence was excluded in the analysis. However, the significance of waiting time before service diminished with inclusion of HIV prevalence. Further research is required to refine definition and measurement for child health care variable on female autonomy.

Users’ Perception and Satisfaction of Current Situation of Home Health Care Services in Jordan

Background: The healthcare system in Jordan is evolving and has to continuously respond to the changing risk profile of the population. The purpose of this study was to examine perception of users and providers of the quality of home health care services. Methods: A descriptive design was used to collect data from a convenience sample of 82 users of home health care services. Results: Users had low to fair satisfaction (30.5% - 69.5%) about the quality of care provided, had moderate satisfaction (72.0% to 81.7%) about the information received, and had low to fair satisfaction about education related to goal of treatment and medication (46.4% - 53.3%). Users had high level of agreement (>70%) that health agencies provided interpersonal care. Conclusion: The ability of the frail people to choose from a variety of cost-effective long-term care services is limited.

Accessibility and availability of health care services to internally displaced persons, in Kitgum and Pader districts, northern Uganda

Introduction: During 1986-2009, an estimated 1.6 million persons were internally displaced from northern and eastern regions of Uganda due to civil war. We investigated accessibility to and availability of health care services for the internally displaced persons in Kitgum and Pader districts, northern Uganda. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Kitgum and Pader districts, northern Uganda. We interviewed a total of 1383 respondents comprising 968 (70%) adults and 415 (30%) adolescents;60% were females and 40% males, randomly selected from 35 of 67 (52.2%) internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. We held 27 key informant interviews and 52 focus group discussions. Data were entered in EPI data version 3.02 and analysed using SPSS version 12.00 statistical packages. Findings: Two thirds of the respondents 67.5% lived within 5 km distance of a health facility. The majority 62.9% of respondents mentioned that health related information was readily provided. 43.5% of health providers were always available in a health facility. A quarter 25.1% of health facilities always had drugs available, while 56.9% of the drugs prescribed were always available. Two thirds of the respondents 65.9% were satisfied with the health care services provided. The main reasons for the choice of a health facility were proximity 29.6%, provision of free treatment 24.7% and availability of drugs 17.2%. Main barriers to health care access were due to the lack of financial resources, trained personnel, and inadequate drugs and supplies in the health facilities. Conclusions and Recommendations: The majority of IDPs lived in close proximity to health facilities and obtained health care services from public health facilities. Access to health care was determined mainly by proximity and availability of free services and drugs. Although geographic accessibility to health services was high, lack of finances, information and decision power hindered access to health care services.

Maternal complications and the utilisation of maternal health care services with special reference to West Bengal, India

The study aims to examine maternal complications in the eastern states of India. Further, an attempt is also made to understand the socioeconomic factors that determine the utilization of health care services during maternity in the state of West Bengal. The data used for the study are District Level Household Survey (DLHS) 2007-08, which reveals wide regional variations in maternal complications in India. But the state of West Bengal depicts a unique picture. It has the dubious distinction of achieving low fertility and mortality with high maternal complications. The utilisation of health care services in West Bengal was never near completion. Full utilisation of ANC which is essential for safe motherhood is just above national average. A large number of deliveries still take place out of the institution and are unsafe. Analysis reveals that higher age at motherhood increases the probability of utilising maternal health care services. Social groups, years of schooling, wealth index and place of residence also show significant relationship. The findings of the study provide an insight that efforts should be made to create awareness among socially and economically disadvantaged groups of the society about the benefits of utilisation of health care services. Further it also addresses the issue of creating awareness about MDG’s.

Depressed Older Patients’ Need for and Expectations of Improved Health Services—An Evaluative Approach to the Chronic Care Model

Depression in later life is an underrepresented yet important research area. The aim of the study was to explore depressed older persons’ need for and expectations of improved health services one year after implementation of the Chronic Care Model (CCM). A qualitative evaluative design was used. Data were collected through individual interviews with older persons living in Norway. The qualitative content analysis revealed two themes: The need to be safeguarded and Expectation of being considered valuable and capable. Evaluation of the improvement in care with focus on the CCM components showed that the most important components for improving the depressed older person’s daily life were: delivery system re-design, self-management support, productive interaction and a well-informed active patient. The findings highlight the need for a health services designed for persons suffering from chronic ill-health, where the CCM could serve as a framework for policy change and support the redesign of the existing healthcare system. We conclude that older persons with depression need attention, especially those who have been suffering for many years. The identified components may have implications for health professionals in the promotion of mental healthcare.

Health and Medical Care for the Elderly

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Implementation Strategy of“Eight in One”of Integrated Medical and Care Service System in China:A Case Study of Anshan City of Liaoning

With the gradual intensification of aging in China,the issue of elderly care has become the primary issue that needs to be urgently solved in society.The construction of a reasonable and scientific integrated medical and care service system can not only efficiently allocate medical resources and services,but also better meet the needs of the elderly.Due to the involvement of multiple disciplines such as architecture,sociology,psychology,and behavioral science in the construction of the system,as well as the restriction of various objective factors such as medical capacity,spatial scale,and operating costs,the government and elderly care institutions have always been unable to find the best solution for how to scientifically and reasonably construct an integrated medical and care service system.This paper is based on Anshan City,Liaoning Province,which has prominent aging issues and distinct characteristics of the elderly population.Through extensive field research in elderly care institutions,and face-to-face communication with personnel from relevant government departments such as the Municipal Commission on Aging,the Civil Affairs Bureau,the Health Commission,the Medical Insurance Bureau,and the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau,it truly understands the problems that arise in the construction of the urban integrated medical and care service system.From three aspects:urban situation,institutional situation and the needs of the elderly,it is proposed to establish a clear departmental linkage mechanism with clear rights and responsibilities,a policy guarantee mechanism tailored to local conditions,a multi-measure operation mechanism,a technology first intelligent response mechanism,a warm and efficient service mechanism for the people,an overall layout mechanism,an evaluation and supervision mechanism for full process control,and a talent supply mechanism of external introduction and internal training.It aims to provide reference for the construction of an integrated medical and care service system in similar cities.

Utilization and Felt Need of Oral Health Care Services among Women in Chennai-Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction： Oral health is window to overall health. There is a greatest burden of oral diseases on the underprivileged group. In developing countries like India the affordability to oral health care services is very limited thereby leading to poor oral wellness ＆ millions suffer intractable toothache and poor quality of living and end up with few dentition. Objective： To assess the utilization level of oral health services among women in Chennai. Material and methods： A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 200 women in Teynampet Zone in Chennai District, Tamil Nadu. The women were chosen by simple random sampling and were interviewed using the semi-stzuctured questionnaire to assess their utilization level during the period of June to July 2016. The data were analyzed by SPSS Version 22. Result： Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis--MANOVA were used to analyze the utilization level. Majority of the respondents were in the age group of 30-35years, most of the respondents had oral problem and almost everyone had visited dentist at least once within 3 years. Multivariate analysis--MANOVA also showed that the utilization levels were directly influenced by accessibility, availability and affordability and showed statistical significance （p value 〈 0.05） and also from MANOVA analysis it showed that the respondents who had poor oral hygiene did not utilize oral health care services as the affordability was a problem although accessibility and availability was adequate. Conclusion： Our fmdings suggest that people who had oral problem had visited dentist in previous 3 years and most of the people who visited dentist had a good oral hygiene. Cost of the treatment affected the dental visits. They believed that visiting the dentist is necessary only for pain relief.

Medical care service model combined with support policy development and theoretical research

China has entered the aging society, on the one hand, the number of elderly people in the gradual increase in the number of the corresponding oldest old, disabled elderly, and other semi-disabled elderly is also increasing; on the other hand, family pension function is weakening. This brings new problems and challenges to elderly care services and medical services. How to make the elderly a sense of security, the old medical care, doctors explore new mode of raising combined pension service is very important, domestic scholars have done a lot of this, they mainly focus on the medical support pension model combining content, doctors pension service support combined mode and manner of service objects and the advantages and problems of the medical support combined pension model is discussed. Firstly, from ＂medical support integration＂ policy development view, then from the above three aspects of the research scholars to sort out and summarize, try to identify the lack of exploration and research, indicate the direction for further research.

On Rural Medical Care and Health Undertaking Development during New Medical Reform

Based on in-depth survey of township hospitals in Lushan County of Henan Province, this paper studies the development situations of rural medical care and health undertaking in the course of new medical reform. Results show that both rural medical institution and public health undertaking have considerable development in this course. Working capital situation gradually turns better. However, there are still problems and challenge of shortage of high quality medical care personnel, lack of employment mechanism, poor medical environment, and imperfect bidding and purchasing system of medicines. To further develop rural medical situation, it should improve medical environment, speed up informationization construction, and give prominence to functional orientation.

Suicide Prevention in Mental Health Services—A Qualitative Study of a Web Based Program for Mental Health Care Staff

Background: Further strategies are needed to deal with the high losses to suicide. New modalities should be explored within the context of suicide prevention. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate participants’ experiences of a web based program for mental health care staff, including its potential clinical relevance. Methods: Nineteen participants participated in five focus groups. Data was analyzed using content analysis. Results: The analysis showed participants’ experiences of the program’s contents and format (“Web Based Modules”, “Discussion Groups”) and practical value (“Clinical Relevance and Use”, “Effects on Communication and Climate”). Conclusions: The program partly increased awareness about risk factors and the importance of inquiring about suicide ideation/plans and documenting suicide assessments. Experiences of the clinical value were varying and may be increased through potential enhancements.

Exploration on the Implementation of the Integration of Medical and Preventive Model in China’s Primary Health Care Institutions

Objective To explore the different modes and approaches of medical and preventive integration in current primary health care institutions in China.Methods Through literature analysis,field research,telephone interviews,and other methods the implementation status was evaluated to systematically study the main experience and effect of implementing medical and preventive integration services in pilot areas.Results and Conclusion At present,there are three implementation modes of medical-prevention integration,namely,vertical mode based on the medical community,internal mode with optimized service process,and internal mode with great service capabilities.The three medical-prevention integration modes have their respective focuses,but they need to be further improved in terms of policy support,technical staffing,information system construction,and drug use.