Beneficiary perspectives toward medical health camps in the Himalayan Regions: A new education strategy for medical undergraduates

Abstract

Backgrounds: National Health Mission emphasizes the delivery of health-care services to the doorstep of the population. The geographical terrain of villages in the Himalayan region necessitates medical health camps’ needs to deliver affordable and accessible healthcare to the people. Aim and Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the profile of camp beneficiaries and determines their perception and satisfaction toward medical health camps conducted in the Himalayan regions. Materials and Methods: The study was employed in remote villages, Uttarakhand, India. A self-structured and pre-tested questionnaire were used to collect information on the profile, satisfaction, and camp beneficiaries’ perception. Data are presented using descriptive statistics, frequency, and percentages. Results: 3200 population attended camps, 478 patients consented to participate in the survey (14.93%). The average distance traveled by the patients to attend camps was (2.32 ± 1.10) km. The mean distance of the nearest health-care facility was located at 17.05 ± 5.90 km. About 67.57% population was satisfied with health camps services in areas. Overall, minor medical ailments were common (37%), followed by musculoskeletal (16%) and skin (12%). Further, 78.87% of the population would like to attend medical camps in the future and become more health-conscious after attending health camps (81.38%). About 99.73% of the patients expressed a need for the availability of drugs in the camps. Conclusions: Health camp beneficiaries appreciated the event and expressed the need to organize such camps in the future. Organizing camp is a novel approach to deliver essential health-care services at the doorstep in remote areas. It can be used as a new tactic to teach medical undergraduates.