Awareness Of Health Conditions Research Articles

Convenience, Courtesy and Care: The impact of MTI Reforms in Public Sector Teaching Hospitals on Patients’ Satisfaction

Patient satisfaction has become a guiding tool for designing public policy in the field of health care services. Patient satisfaction is an important indicator for evaluating quality of care provided by healthcare providers. This study explores and assesses user perceptions about implementation of Medical Teaching Institution reforms and its effects upon patient satisfaction. The findings are based on a quantitative survey conducted on patients through a convenience sampling. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique has been used; the findings prove reduction in waiting time for patients in the outpatient department. Patients are observed as satisfied with treatment process in the hospitals, method of consultation, awareness of health conditions, availability of drugs and improvements after getting treatment. This can be safely concluded that overall quality of care has become improved after the implementation of reforms. The study also mentions useful practical and theoretical contributions, limitations, and future study suggestions.

Older UK sheltered housing tenants' perceptions of well-being and their usage of hospital services.

The aim of this study was to examine sheltered housing tenants' views of health and well-being, the strategies they adopted to support their well-being, and their use of health and social care services through a Health Needs Assessment. Sheltered housing in the UK is a form of service-integrated housing for people, predominantly over 60. The study used a parallel, three-strand mixed method approach to encompass the tenants' perceptions of health and well-being (n=96 participants), analysis of the service's health and well-being database, and analysis of emergency and elective hospital admissions (n=978 tenant data sets for the period January to December 2012). Tenants' perceptions of well-being were seen to reinforce much of the previous work on the subject with strategies required to sustain social, community, physical, economic, environmental, leisure, emotional and spiritual dimensions. Of the tenants' self-reported chronic conditions, arthritis, heart conditions and breathing problems were identified as their most common health concerns. Hospital admission data indicated that 43% of the tenant population was admitted to hospital (886 admissions) with 53% emergency and 47% elective admissions. The potential cost of emergency as opposed to elective admissions was substantial. The mean length of stay for emergency admissions was 8.2days (median 3.0days). While elective hospital admission had a mean length of stay of 1.0day (median 0.0days). These results suggest the need for multi-professional health, social care and housing services interventions to facilitate sheltered housing tenants' aspirations and support their strategies to live well and independently in their own homes. Equally there is a need to increase tenants' awareness of health conditions and their management, the importance of services which offer facilitation, resources and support, and the key role played by prevention and reablement.

International Archives of Medicine

Objective: To study the effect of health educational video instruction on increasing patients' knowledge in a hospital waiting area of a developing country. Methods: An educational video on signs, symptoms, and risk factors of myocardial infarction (MI) was played in an Emergency Department (ED) patient waiting area of an urban tertiary care hospital in India. Participants (n = 217) were randomly assigned to two groups: an intervention group that viewed the MI video (n = 111) and a control group that did not view the video (n = 106). Each group took a standard survey of thirty-seven questions to assess baseline knowledge pertaining to MI (pretest). The intervention group then viewed the video and the initial survey was re-administered to each group (posttest). Results: At baseline (pretest) there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control group in the mean number of correct (18.1 vs. 19.0, p = 0.19), incorrect (9.4 vs. 8.6, p = 0.27) and unsure (9.6 vs. 9.3, p = 0.78) responses per participant. After viewing the video on MI, the intervention group had a statistically significant improvement in the mean number of correct responses (27.0 vs. 20.0, p < 0.001), and a significant decline in the mean number of unsure responses (1.8 vs. 9.4, p < 0.001) compared to the posttest responses of the control group. There was no significant change in the number of incorrect responses on the posttest between the intervention and control groups, (8.3 vs. 7.7, p = 0.35), respectively. Conclusion: A health educational video can serve as an effective tool for increasing patients' short-term knowledge and awareness of health conditions in a hospital waiting area of a developing country.

Living conditions, ability to seek medical treatment, and awareness of health conditions and healthcare options among homeless persons in Tokyo, Japan.

Empirical data indicative of the health conditions and medical needs of homeless persons are scarce in Japan. In this study, with the aim of contributing to the formulation of future healthcare strategies for the homeless, we conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey and interviews at a park in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, to clarify the living conditions of homeless persons and their health conditions and awareness about the availability of medical treatment. Responses from 55 homeless men were recorded (response rate: 36.7%). With the exception of one person, none of them possessed a health insurance certificate. Half of the respondents reported having a current income source, although their modal monthly income was 30,000 yen($1 was approximately 90 yen). The number of individuals who responded "yes" to the questions regarding "Consulting a doctor on the basis of someone's recommendation" and "Being aware of the location of the nearest hospital or clinic" was significantly higher among those who had someone to consult when they were ill than among those who did not (the odds ratios [95% confidence intervals] were 15.00 [3.05-93.57] and 11.45 [1.42-510.68], respectively). This showed that whether or not a homeless person had a person to consult might influence his healthcare-seeking behavior. When queried about the entity they consulted (multiple responses acceptable), respondents mentioned "life support organizations" (61.1%) and "public offices" (33.3%). Overall, 94.5% of the respondents were aware of swine flu (novel influenza A (H1N1)). Their main sources of information were newspapers and magazines. On the basis of these findings, with regard to the aim of formulating healthcare strategies for homeless persons, while life support organizations and public offices play significant roles as conduits to medical institutions, print media should be considered useful for communicating messages to homeless persons.

Utilizing video on myocardial infarction as a health educational intervention in patient waiting areas of the developing world: A study at the emergency department of a major tertiary care hospital in India

ObjectiveTo study the effect of health educational video instruction on increasing patients' knowledge in a hospital waiting area of a developing country.MethodsAn educational video on signs, symptoms, and risk factors of myocardial infarction (MI) was played in an Emergency Department (ED) patient waiting area of an urban tertiary care hospital in India. Participants (n = 217) were randomly assigned to two groups: an intervention group that viewed the MI video (n = 111) and a control group that did not view the video (n = 106). Each group took a standard survey of thirty-seven questions to assess baseline knowledge pertaining to MI (pretest). The intervention group then viewed the video and the initial survey was re-administered to each group (posttest).ResultsAt baseline (pretest) there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control group in the mean number of correct (18.1 vs. 19.0, p = 0.19), incorrect (9.4 vs. 8.6, p = 0.27) and unsure (9.6 vs. 9.3, p = 0.78) responses per participant. After viewing the video on MI, the intervention group had a statistically significant improvement in the mean number of correct responses (27.0 vs. 20.0, p < 0.001), and a significant decline in the mean number of unsure responses (1.8 vs. 9.4, p < 0.001) compared to the posttest responses of the control group. There was no significant change in the number of incorrect responses on the posttest between the intervention and control groups, (8.3 vs. 7.7, p = 0.35), respectively.ConclusionA health educational video can serve as an effective tool for increasing patients' short-term knowledge and awareness of health conditions in a hospital waiting area of a developing country.Practice ImplicationsHealth educational videos serve as a public health low cost intervention that demonstrates clear short term benefits. Health care workers in developing countries can help educate individuals presenting to hospitals by displaying these videos in hospital waiting areas.