ATTENTION:
BEFORE YOU READ THE CHAPTER ONE OF THE PROJECT TOPIC BELOW,
PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW.THANK YOU!
INFORMATION:
YOU CAN GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT OF THE TOPIC BELOW. THE FULL
PROJECT COSTS N5,000 ONLY. THE FULL INFORMATION ON HOW TO PAY AND GET THE
COMPLETE PROJECT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. OR YOU CAN CALL: 08068231953,
08168759420
PATIENT PERCEPTION AND SATISFACTION
WITH HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS AT PRIMARY CARE FACILITIES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Primary
Health Care forms the bedrock of the health-care services of a country. It is
the quality of health care available to the majority of the population that
determines the health status of the country and is the best indicator for the
level of social development of the country. The important conditions of Primary
Health-Care Services are that they should be: Efficient with regard to cost,
techniques and organization; readily accessible to those concerned; Acceptable
to the community served; at a reasonable cost. Health-care services should be
available in a manner and language that is suitable to the community and
population it serves and accommodating of local traditions and customs, and at
a price which the population can afford. Patient satisfaction has been linked
to increased patient compliance, continuity of care, better clinical outcomes,
and greater service utilization and risk management. Patient satisfaction is
thus a key marker for the quality of health-care delivery and an important
indicator for evaluation and improvement of health-care services. Studies of
Patient Satisfaction in health care originated in the USA during the 1950s,the
earliest studies attempted to identify patient characteristics such as age,
gender, and race to predict patient satisfaction levels (Apostle and Oder
1967;Bertakis et al. 1991). Another group of studies analysed health-care
attributes such as nursing care, physician care, etc. to identify attributes
that influence overall patient satisfaction (Ware et al. 1975; Ross et al.
1993; Dansky and Brannon 1996; Oswald et al. 1998). DrVeera Prasad in his
comparative study of patient satisfaction said that there are five determinants
of patient satisfaction.
Reliability:
The ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
Responsiveness:
The willingness to help the patients and provide prompt service.
Assurance:
The knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and
confidence.
Empathy: The
provision of caring and individualized attention to patients.
Tangibles:
The appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personal, and communication
materials.
A study was
carried out to identify which attributes of a primary health-care experience
access, staff care and physician care, and which aspects of each attribute are
most significant in patients’ response to the services they receive. Analysis
showed that among the three attributes, physician care was most influential,
closely followed by the staff care, with access having least influence.However,
it is the combination of all these factors that influence patient satisfaction,
and need to be assessed to ensure a positive experience at the health-care
facility.
Unfortunately,
while several studies have been carried out which have explored the parameters
of patient satisfaction in tertiary care centers and large hospitals in India,
very little attention has been paid to studies of patient satisfaction at the
primary care level, especially GPs running solo clinics, which form the bulk of
private primary care services.
Measuring
client or patient satisfaction has become an integral part of health facility
management strategies across the globe (Smith and Engolbracht, 2001). The
success of a health facility depends on client perceptions of health care
quality because of the impact it has on client satisfaction based on services
provided by health professionals. Satisfaction of clients not only ensures
compliance with treatment and instructions about their illness, but also
influences utilization of health facilities.
Turhal and
others (2002) made a comment that ―in the last 20 years the old way of treating
patients in the “disease centred” approach has changed to “patient centred”
style. Now patients have more influence toward the care they receive and they
are given opportunity to change the way care is delivered to them. Health care
in Nigeria has over the years been characterized by poor provider-client
relationship which has made clients and some health providers to raise serious
concerns. Provision of high quality client-centred care is therefore one of the
greatest challenges of the Ministry of Health (MOH). As a result of the
concerns raised by clients and health providers, the issue of improving quality
of health care attracted serious attention in 1989 during the Regional
Directors’ conference. Subsequent to the conference, improving the quality of
health care attracted attention of both policy makers and health care
professional groups and efforts have been made to identify key issues for
improving the quality of health care throughout the country.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Health
facilities at all levels of care are required to provide quality health care
that meets the expectations of their clients. This is however, not so
throughout the country. Provider-client relationship has been very poor
resulting in growing concern among clients about the quality of care. The MOH
(2007) in its national health policy document identifies complaints from users
about the abusive and humiliating treatment by the health providers and
shortages of equipment, consumables supplies and some essential drugs as some
of the challenges of the health services. The national health policy document
reveals that some health facilities are efficient, delivering high quality services
and being responsive to the needs of their clients, but many are not.
To monitor
and improve the quality of care by health professionals in the health
facilities, the Nigerian Health Services recommends client satisfaction surveys
by health facilities at least twice in a year.
Even though,
some client satisfaction surveys have been conducted, annual reports show that
it has not been able to do it twice a year. It is therefore not known how
sustainable quality improvement efforts have been throughout the year.The
health centres and clinics in the country have not been conducting client
satisfaction surveys.The level of quality of care by professionals is therefore
not known in these facilities, hence this study on patient perception and
satisfaction with healthcare professionals at primary health care facilities.
1.3 Justification
Client
satisfaction data is an important tool for quality improvement.This study
describes client perception and satisfaction with health care professionals as
a means of measuring quality of health care in Enugu. In addition to evaluating
client perception and satisfaction with services provided by health
professionals, it also elicits which service areas are priorities for
improvement. It will also help bridge the gap between clients‘ expectations and
the actual service they receive. Seeking clients’ opinions of the current level
of service will ensure client focus in service delivery. This is necessary in
ensuring high level of quality of service delivery.
This study will
also help the health facilities to initiate policies and programs that can lead
to improved client-provider relationship which will result in increased
utilization and revenue generation. It will also serve as a baseline study,
since no such study describing the quality of care across the various levels of
care has been done in the area.
1.4 Research Objectives
The general
objective of this study is to describe patient perception and satisfaction with
healthcare professionals at primary health care facilities in Enugu. The
specific objectives are:
To describe and compare the perceived
quality of care at the various levels of care in Enugu
To determine the level of client
satisfaction with health care professionals in the health facilities
To identify the predictors of perception of
quality of care and client satisfaction in the health facilities
1.5 Research Questions
The
following research questions guided the study;
What is the perceived quality of care at
the various levels of care in Enugu?
What is the level of client satisfaction
with health care professionals in the health facilities?
What are the predictors of perception of
quality of care and client satisfaction in the health facilities?
1.6 Limitation to Study
The major
limitations of the study were
Interviews and FGDs were held on the health
facility premises. This might cause clients to have the tendency to give higher
ratings for fear of victimization even though they were assured of
confidentiality.
Interviewing caretakers of patients less
than 15 years of age rather than the patients themselves might not give the
true picture since their views may be different from that of the patients
themselves.
Only one health centre and one clinic were
sampled due to resource constraints
HOW TO GET THE FULL PROJECT WORK
PLEASE, print the following instructions and information if you
will like to order/buy our complete written material(s).
HOW TO RECEIVE PROJECT MATERIAL(S)
After paying the appropriate amount (#5,000) into our bank Account
below, send the following information to
08068231953 or 08168759420
(1) Your project topics
(2) Email Address
(3)
Payment Name (If you made a transfer)
(4)
Teller Number (If you made a direct deposit)
We will send your material(s) after we receive bank alert
BANK ACCOUNTS
Account Name: AMUTAH DANIEL CHUKWUDI
Account Number: 0046579864
Bank: GTBank.
OR
Account Name: AMUTAH DANIEL CHUKWUDI
Account Number: 2023350498
Bank: UBA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL:
08068231953 or 08168759420
Our
other research websites:
Comments
Post a Comment