Evaluation of Age-Friendliness in Primary Health Care Centers in Sulaimani Governorate, Iraq

Abstract

Background: The aging of the global population has increased the demand for primary care of older adult’s health disorders. As the first point of contact for healthcare, primary care services should be accessible and adaptable to the needs of older people. This study aims to assess the age-friendliness of healthcare services at the primary healthcare centers (PHCCs) in Sulaimani Governorate, Iraq. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included all 87 PHCCs in Sulaimani governorate (61 centers in Sulaimani city, 16 in Raparin Administration, and 10 in Garmyan Administration). In each of these health facilities, data were collected regarding the physical, architectural, and clinical age-friendliness of these centers. A modified age-friendly PHCCs toolkit was used as a tool for assessing the PHCCs, and then a scoring system was utilized to estimate the overall friendliness of the PHCCs. Results: The Sulaimani governorate selected 13 out of 87 PHCCs (14.9%) to be age-friendly; all of them were in Sulaimani city. However, this study found that only 3 out of 87 (3.4%) centers were in the range of the WHO age-friendly recommendations with a score of >75%, while 64 (73.6%) centers were partially age-friendly with a score of 50–74% and 20 (23%) centers were not age-friendly with a score <50%. Conclusion: Only 3.4% of PHCCs in Sulaimani Governorate were age-friendly, and most of the centers were partially age-friendly. Geriatric doctors and geriatric nurses were not recruited, and geriatric training programs for medical staff were not satisfactory.