Abstract
During the COVI9-19 pandemic, Pakkred hospital in Thailand implemented innovative practices to ensure the continuation of essential medical services for non-communicable disease patients. These practices included decentralized care, telemedicine, home blood pressure monitoring, community delivery of medicines, and facility infrastructure changes. Despite the decrease in hospital visits by hypertension patients during the pandemic, our results suggest that this package of interventions may have contributed to sustained hypertension and diabetes control rates in Pakkred district.
Highlights
In early 2020, when COVID-19 was spreading globally, 59% of countries surveyed by a World Health Organization rapid assessment reported that access to outpatient non-communicable (NCD) services was restricted to a certain degree [1]
This article aims to document innovative practices adopted by Pakkred Hospital of the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand to overcome challenges generated by COVID-19 and to assess whether they contributed to maintaining chronic care for patients with hypertension and diabetes
The number of patients with hypertension on treatment who visited outpatient departments (OPDs) at the hospital declined from March to May 2020, followed by a period of slow return to the hospital for care (Figure 1)
Summary
In early 2020, when COVID-19 was spreading globally, 59% of countries surveyed by a World Health Organization rapid assessment reported that access to outpatient non-communicable (NCD) services was restricted to a certain degree [1]. Public health systems faced the dual challenge of containing the outbreak while protecting health care workers (HCW) and maintaining routine services for hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic NCDs [1]. In Thailand, patients living with chronic diseases, especially elderly individuals and those with comorbidities, were unable or reluctant to visit health facilities for routine care. This article aims to document innovative practices adopted by Pakkred Hospital of the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand to overcome challenges generated by COVID-19 and to assess whether they contributed to maintaining chronic care for patients with hypertension and diabetes
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