Public Health Services In China Research Articles

Impact of digital infrastructure construction on the migrants’ utilization of basic public health services in China

BackgroundGlobal digitalization significantly impacts public health by improving healthcare access for marginalized populations. In China, socioeconomic disparities and the Hukou system create significant barriers for the migrant population to access basic public health services (BPHS). This study aimed to assess how digital infrastructure construction (DIC) affects BPHS utilization among China’s migrant populations, filling a gap in the literature regarding the relationship between digital advancements and health service accessibility.MethodsThis research used micro-level data from the 2018 China Migrants Dynamic Survey and incorporated variables aligned with the Broadband China policy to employ a comprehensive empirical strategy. It included baseline regressions, robustness checks through propensity score matching and machine learning techniques, and heterogeneity analysis to explore the differential impacts of DIC based on gender, age, education level, and Hukou status.ResultsThe findings revealed that DIC significantly enhances the likelihood of migrants establishing health records and registering with family doctors, demonstrating quantifiable improvements in health service utilization. Heterogeneity analysis further indicated that the beneficial impacts of DIC were more pronounced among female migrants, those with higher education levels, younger populations, and urban Hukou holders.ConclusionsDIC plays a crucial role in bridging the accessibility gap to BPHS for migrant populations in China, contributing to narrowing health disparities and advancing social equity. These results emphasize the significance of digital infrastructure in public health strategies and offer valuable insights for policymakers, healthcare providers, and researchers. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies on the sustained effects of DIC and tailor digital health initiatives to meet the unique needs of migrant populations, promoting inclusive health policy planning and implementation.

A study on the impact and mechanism of action of public health education on the health of the migrant population: evidence from the 2018 China migrants dynamic survey.

China has the world's largest mobile population. As mobility increases, ensuring the health protection of this population is receiving more attention. Strengthening public health education is a crucial measure to improve their health and achieve equal access to basic public health services in China. Previous research has demonstrated that public health education has an impact on the health of mobile populations. However, there has been limited investigation into the mediating pathways through which health education influences the health of mobile populations, and few studies have examined the heterogeneity of this effect. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of public health education on the health of the mobile population and its mechanism of action. Additionally, we aimed to explore the differences in this impact among different subdivided groups. This paper analyses the impact of public health education on the health of the mobile population using the 2018 China Migrant Dynamic Survey (CMDS) Data,. The data was cleaned and 4,034 people were included in the analysis. The study employed ordered logistic regression modeling to analyze the mediating pathways through which health education affects health. Additionally, binary logistic regression model, probit model, propensity score matching method and instrumental variables were used to verify the robustness of the results. The self-assessed health status of the mobile population was good, and 82.10% of them accepted public health education. However, 17.89% of the mobile population did not receive any health education. Acceptance of health education can help improve the health status of the mobile population (OR = 1.178, 95% CI = 0.979-1.418). The study found that public health education can positively impact the health of mobile populations by influencing their health and hospitalization behaviors, as well as their social support. The analysis of heterogeneity revealed that the impact of public health education is more significant among rural, middle-aged, low-education, and low-income groups of the mobile population. Public health education can have a positive impact on the health of the migrant populations. To further improve health education for this group, it is necessary to actively promote the establishment of health records for the migrant population, to facilitate the contracting of family doctors by the migrant population, to improve the accessibility to hospitalization services, reduce the burden of hospitalization costs, and enhance social support. Simultaneously, it is essential to offer precise and varied health education to the migrant population based on their characteristics, to promote equity among diverse groups of individuals. These findings not only help to enrich theoretical research on health education for migrant populations and the health of migrant populations but also help to improve the level of public health education for migrant populations and improve the health protection of migrant populations.

Trends in output of hypertension management and associated factors in primary care facilities: a latent trajectory analysis in China from 2009 to 2017

BackgroundThe prevalence of hypertension is high (25.2% in 2012) and there were a large number of patients with hypertension (more than 200 million) in China. Township health centres in rural areas and community health centres in urban areas are responsible for hypertension management. This study aims to identify trends in hypertension management output and related facility-level, geographical and economic factors in primary care facilities and to assess the effect of the national project of basic public health services in China from 2009 to 2017.MethodsA cross-sectional survey (2018) was combined with retrospective data collection (2009–2017) from 685 primary care facilities in six provinces in China. The hypertension management output was indicated by the number of patients with hypertension under management per 10,000 population. Latent class growth analysis and group-based trajectory models were applied to classify trajectories and determine associations with facility-level, geographic and economic characteristics.ResultsThe trend in the output increased rapidly from 2009 to 2012 with an average growth rate of 54.58% and slowed down from 2012 to 2017 (growth rate of 5.94%). Five trajectories of the output were identified and labelled according to baseline status and increase rates: low-gradually increasing (16.9%), middle-slightly increasing (16.2%), low-sharply increasing (7.9%), middle-sharply increasing (34.2%) and persistently high (24.9%). The time-stable characteristics, including region (eastern, central or western), district (urban or rural), landform, were associated with hypertension management output of the facilities. Number of public health physicians was a significant time-dependent characteristic influencing management output.ConclusionsFive latent trajectories of hypertension management output were identified. The output was still at a low level compared with the prevalence of hypertension. Hypertension screening in young people need to be emphasized. Facilities are recommended to establish good relationships with residents for better hypertension management outcomes especially in urban areas.

Correlation between input on public health services and work motivation among primary health workers in China

BackgroundThe integration of public health services into primary health care has been advocated and practiced worldwide for better management of preventable diseases. Health policy makers in China have started the reforms to better integrate public health services and clinical services, but public health services in China still remained neglected in primary health system. This study aimed to explore the input of Chinese primary health workers on delivering public health services and its association with their intrinsic working motivation in China.MethodsData were collected from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2019. Participants in this survey included 803 primary health workers in 75 primary health institutions in China. Questions about the input on clinical and public health services delivery and intrinsic working motivation were asked. A multiple linear regression model was adopted to investigate the correlation between intrinsic working motivation and the time input on public health service. The robustness of this model was checked with a generalized linear model.ResultsIntrinsic motivation was found to have negative association with health workers’ input on public health (β: -1.01, p < 0.05), with the robustness checked with a generalized linear model. The significance of this association differed in the group of urban community health centers and rural township health center. Other factors that had significant relationship with the input on public health services include the being nurses instead of doctors (p < 0.01), being a member of family doctor team (p < 0.01), recognition on relative importance of clinical services (p < 0.01), and perception on better exterior support (p < 0.01).ConclusionWith higher intrinsic working motivation, primary health workers tended to spend less time on public health services. It reflected that doctors and nurses in primary healthcare institutions still perceived clinical treatment services as their main work responsibility and source of career recognition. Organizational level supports and system level policies should guide the primary health workers to increase their awareness on the importance of public health services and to cultivate their internal interests on public health services, in order to ensure sustainable input and performance improvement on public health services in primary health system in China.

Demand analysis of telenursing among empty-nest elderly individuals with chronic diseases based on the Kano model.

AimThe increase in empty-nest elderly individuals with chronic diseases poses a major challenge to the provision of public health services in China. Telenursing can effectively relieve the pressure of public health services to a certain extent. This study aims to explore the telenursing needs of empty-nest elderly individuals with chronic diseases based on the Kano model to provide references for improving the quality of telenursing.MethodsParticipants were selected from five rural communities and five urban communities in Yangzhou and Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 348 empty-nest elderly individuals with chronic diseases were included. The participants received a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, and their telenursing needs were surveyed and analyzed based on the Kano model.ResultsOf the 15 quality attributes evaluated by the participants, 3 telenursing services were categorized as “must-be quality”, 5 were categorized as “one-dimensional quality”, 5 were categorized as “attractive quality”, and 2 were categorized as “indifferent quality”. The proportion of individuals who desired telenursing services ranged from 47.41 to 83.62%, the better values (satisfaction) ranged from 35.29–83.98%, and the worse values (dissatisfaction) ranged from 10.91 to 63.27%. There were no significant differences in any items of telenursing needs for between participants in Yangzhou and Nantong (all P > 0.05), and there were also no significant differences in all items between rural and urban communities (all P > 0.05).ConclusionBased on the Kano model, it was found that empty-nest elderly individuals with chronic diseases had a positive attitude toward telenursing and that they had different levels of need for different telenursing services. These findings provided a theoretical basis for medical decision-makers to formulate medical policies and provided a scientific foundation for nursing managers to improve telenursing services to meet the needs of the empty-nest elderly individuals with chronic diseases.

Anatomy of intergovernmental finance for essential public health services in China

BackgroundThe Chinese government launched health care reforms in 2009 and introduced a national list of essential public health services (EPHS) as an integral part of the plan to deliver health care for all. EPHS was also built into the national plan to promote the equalisation of public services across the country. A national standard was set for financial input to EPHS. As the services are co-funded by the central and local governments, a robust intergovernmental fiscal system is essential to guarantee that the hundreds of thousands of service providers have adequate financing to meet the service commitment.MethodsWe examined the flow of funds through China’s complex intergovernmental fiscal system to see whether the promise of equal funding for EPHS was implemented, and how the costs were distributed across levels of government. Information was collated from funding documents issued by all levels of governments involved, for a sample that includes the central government, 12 provincial governments, eight prefectural governments and 11 county-level governments. For each level of government, we examined: (i) when and how much funding they disbursed or received from higher levels; (ii) when and how much matching funds were made; and (iii) the allocation rules adopted.ResultsOverall, we found the central government met its commitments for the program on time and in full, and good compliance from local governments in passing through funding from higher levels and as well as meeting their own financial responsibilities. However, we also found the following problems: (i) the involvement of so many levels of government resulted in delays in the disbursement of funds; (ii) the use of outdated population data in calculating required funding resulted in some under-allocation; and (iii) localities that needed funding the most were not well targeted by the distribution of funds.ConclusionThis study traces how the 2018 subsidy for EPHS was disbursed from the central government to service providers, focusing on the roles played by intermediate levels of subnational governments—provinces, prefectures and counties. In this way, it identifies gaps in the current intergovernmental financing of EPHS and points to areas for further improvement.

Research on efficiency measurement and spatiotemporal disparity of rural public health services in China.

ObjectiveBased on the rural public health services of 29 regions in China, a service efficiency evaluation index system consisting of input and output dimensions was constructed, and the coupling, coordination and disparity efficiencies of rural public health services in China were studied, providing information to redress the imbalance in the interregional coordinated development.MethodsThe efficiency, spatiotemporal disparity pattern, spatial correlation and evolutionary trend of the coordinated development of rural public health services of 29 regions in China from 2004 to 2018 were analyzed using efficiency and spatial analysis methods such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), kernel density estimation and Moran’s Ⅰ analysis.ResultNowadays, there are problems of unbalanced and insufficient development between the fields and regions in the development of rural public health services in China. The development level of rural public health services in various regions shows a distribution pattern that the service efficiency is “high in the middle”, “middle in the east” and “low in the west”, indicating a spatial cluster effect.

Is it worth outsourcing essential public health services in China?-Evidence from Beilin District of Xi'an.

Essential public health services (EPHS) is general welfare public health interventions led by the Chinese government and provided by the primary medical institutions to all residents. In Beilin District, Xi'an, EPHS producers can be divided into outsourced institutions and public institutions. Can outsourcing EPHS reduce costs and improve efficiency and quality? There is still no definite answer to this question. This paper compares the performance of outsourced institutions and public institutions in terms of efficiency and quality, explains the reasons for this phenomenon. This paper uses a theoretical and two-stage DEA model Based on a "triple subject" research framework. The results show that the difference between public institutions and outsourced institutions is mainly reflected in service quality. When the quality is not measured, outsourced institutions' production efficiency is higher than that of public institutions. When there are quality measurements, the production efficiency of outsourced institutions is lower than that of public institutions. Outsourced institutions perform worse than public institutions. The reason is that a bilateral monopolistic market structure has formed between local governments and outsourced institutions. This situation makes it difficult for the government to replace poor quality outsourced institutions under the constraints of a limited budget.

Collaboration and Cooperation of Public Health Service Management in China.

Collaboration and cooperation are critical for public health management. Nevertheless, collaboration and cooperation between government departments, as well as other entities, are still in a weak condition in China. This article analyzes the status of collaboration and cooperation in the management of public health services in China and explores the problems and gives strategic suggestions for strengthening collaboration and cooperation in the development of public health service systems in China, in order to provide a reference for improvement of public health management in the future. This study uses a qualitative case study approach, including documents review, in-depth interview, and focus group. The main problems of collaboration and cooperation in public health service management in China include problems of effective collaboration and cooperation between institutions and relevant departments, public information platform, and implementation of public health and health promotion. On this basis, several relevant policy recommendations are put forward. Collaboration and cooperation are critical for the overall coordination and sustainable development of public health in China, and there is still work to be done in order to achieve appropriate cooperation and collaboration between different entities in the provision of public health services.

Effect of social integration on the establishment of health records among elderly migrants in China: a nationwide cross-sectional study

ObjectivesEssential public health service use among the migrants is the key obstacle of the equalisation of public health service in China. This study aims to investigate the status of the...

Does a Different Household Registration Affect Migrants' Access to Basic Public Health Services in China?

On the basis of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey Data of 2015, the author provides an analysis of how a different household registration impacts migrants’ access to preventive care provided by public health services, such as health records and medical knowledge, in areas of immigration. This study shows that eliminating the distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural permanent residence registration could raise the rate of establishing health files, but it has no significant effect on migrants’ health knowledge. In fact, encouraging those with non-agricultural registration to move to different counties that belong to the same city or to different cities that belong to the same province can notably eliminate the impact of a different household registration status. Improving the income level of low-income migrants can have the same impact. Recommendations to enable migrants to obtain basic public health services include abolishing the separation of agricultural and non-agricultural household registration, increasing the permanent settlement rate of resident migrants, promoting basic medical security systems across the whole country, strengthening career training, and enhancing the education level of migrants.

Assessment of essential public health services in China based on WHO′s comprehensive evaluation model

Objective To understand the current equalization in essential public health services in China, and to provide recommendations for health resource allocation and public health policy making. Methods WHO′s comprehensive evaluation model, and the Rank Sum Ratio (RSR) method were used to analyze, rank and categorize essential public health services. Results Thirty-one provinces (cities, autonomous regions) in China were grouped into five categories, namely, relatively balanced area, low input area, resource shortage area, over utilization area and resource waste area. Conclusions The equalization of essential public health services in China is gradually being realized, but there are still setbacks such as mismatch between health needs and resource input, waste and over-utilization of resources. To correct these problems, relevant recommendations on health policy making for different areas were given. Key words: Health services administration; Essential public health services; Comprehensive evaluation; Rank sum ratio method; World Health Organization

Role of Usual Healthcare Combined with Telemedicine in the Management of High-Risk Pregnancy in Hangzhou, China.

Background Maternal health is an important part of basic public health services in China's medical reform. Effective management is an important guarantee of maternal health. Telemedicine has been widely used in maternal health management. Objective This study explores the role of usual healthcare combined with telemedicine in the management of high-risk pregnancy. Methods The study was a retrospective. Data were obtained from Hangzhou Maternity Hospital between October 2012 and September 2016, including 93465 pregnant women who were in usual high-risk pregnancy management (usual group) and 134884 pregnant women who were in telemedicine combined with usual high-risk pregnancy management (telemedicine group). The differences in high-risk scores and pregnancy outcomes between the usual and the telemedicine groups were compared. Results The high-risk factors were analyzed, and the results showed that the first fixed high-risk factor was scar uterus and the first dynamic high-risk factor was hepatitis B. Comparing the data of two groups, the number of prenatal visits increased significantly in the telemedicine group (p value <0.05). Although the critical proportion of high-risk women was 2.13% in the usual group and 5.88% in the telemedicine group, respectively (p value <0.01), maternal mortality decreased in the telemedicine group (p value <0.05). Conclusion The combination of telemedicine and usual healthcare can urge the pregnant women to carry out antenatal visits on time, which is one of the important factors to improve the outcome of high-risk pregnancy.

Inter-provincial inequality of public health services in China: the perspective of local officials\u2019 behavior

BackgroundAfter economic reform, China experienced rising public health services inequality between the eastern developed and mid-west undeveloped provinces. The fiscal transfer payment system which aims to shape the disparities was considered inefficient. However, there are only a few studies that address the political reason when analyzing the inter-provincial public health services inequality. And the previous studies did not consider a possible non-linear relationship between the fiscal transfer payments and the inter-provincial public health services equalization.MethodsThis paper argues that the local officials’ fanatical pursuit of local economic growth which driven by the Political Promotion Tournament and the polarized fiscal self-sufficiency (fiscal capacities) of local governments are responsible for the inter-provincial inequality of public health services and the inefficiency of fiscal transfer payments. By constructing panel threshold regression models with fiscal self-sufficiency of local governments as threshold variable, this study tries to empirically investigate the optimal level of the local governments’ self-sufficiency at which the fiscal transfer payments can effectively promote equalization.ResultsThreshold effects exist between fiscal transfer payments and inter-provincial public health services equalization. The effects on inter-provincial public health services equalization show trends that first increase and then decrease as the fiscal self-sufficiency of local governments increases. And there exist a range of fiscal self-sufficiency between 29.236 and 43.765% or between 28.575 and 45.746% for local governments where the fiscal transfer payments can effectively achieve equalization. Currently, the vast majority of provinces in China remain in the ineffective regime where the fiscal transfer payments are inefficient in shaping inequality.ConclusionsThis paper explains the reason of inequality in public health services and the inefficiency of fiscal transfer payment system from Chinese local officials’ behavior aspect, and try to find out an effective solution by focusing on the local government’s fiscal capacity. The effective way to narrow the inequality is to establish a flexible tax-sharing system to adjust local governments’ fiscal capacities and give local governments with low fiscal self-sufficiency more fiscal resources. The new policy measures recently launched by Chinese central government coincide with our recommendations.

Predicting trend of early childhood caries in mainland China: a combined meta-analytic and mathematical modelling approach based on epidemiological surveys

Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common chronic disease in young children. A reliable predictive model for ECC prevalence is needed in China as a decision supportive tool for planning health resources. In this study, we first established the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model and grey predictive model (GM) based on the estimated national prevalence of ECC with meta-analysis from the published articles. The pooled data from 1988 to 2010 were used to establish the model, while the data from 2011 to 2013 were used to validate the models. The fitting and prediction accuracy of the two models were evaluated by mean absolute error (MAE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Then, we forecasted the annual prevalence from 2014 to 2018, which was 55.8%, 53.5%, 54.0%, 52.9%, 51.2% by ARIMA model and 52.8%, 52.0%, 51.2%, 50.4%, 49.6% by GM. The declining trend in ECC prevalence may be attributed to the socioeconomic developments and improved public health service in China. In conclusion, both ARIMA and GM models can be well applied to forecast and analyze the trend of ECC; the fitting and testing errors generated by the ARIMA model were lower than those obtained from GM.

Dr Wu Lien-teh: modernising post-1911 China’s public health service

A young Chinese doctor from a small British colony gaining fame for his role in ending a pneumonic plague in faraway north-east China is indeed a remarkable story. Wu Lien-teh (1879–1960), although standing at only 5 feet 2 inches, short even by Chinese standards, towered over many of his contemporaries because of his dedicated medical work. He was also prominent in the advancement of social and cultural causes. In particular, he campaigned against the opium trade, which had caused irreparable harm to health in China and Southeast Asia. Beyond his battle against the pneumonic plague in Manchuria, Wu was also in the forefront of efforts to create a modern public health service in China. His efforts helped China regain control of quarantine centres in all major ports that had come under the supervision of foreign powers. Wu was also called to deal with the cholera epidemic in China's north-east region in 1920–21. Active in international conferences and research, Wu was the first Chinese to have his work published in the prestigious medical journal, Lancet. For his contributions, Wu was conferred honorary doctorates by Peking University, Hong Kong University and Tokyo University. In 1935, he was nominated for the Nobel prize for his fight against the 1910 Manchurian plague and for identifying the role of tarbagan marmots in the transmission of the disease.(1) The epidemic, one of the deadliest of its kind, killed an estimated 60,000 people in the affected regions of Manchuria during the seven months that it lasted.

Financing reforms of public health services in China: lessons for other nations

Financing reforms of China's public health services are characterised by a reduction in government budgetary support and the introduction of charges. These reforms have changed the financing structure of public health institutions. Before the financing reforms, in 1980, government budgetary support covered the full costs of public health institutions, while after the reforms by the middle of the 1990s, the government's contribution to the institutions’ revenue had fallen to 30–50%, barely covering the salaries of health workers, and the share of revenue generated from charges had increased to 50–70%. These market-oriented financing reforms improved the productivity of public health institutions, but several unintended consequences became evident. The economic incentives that were built into the financing system led to over-provision of unnecessary services, and under-provision of socially desirable services. User fees reduced the take-up of preventive services with positive externalities. The lack of government funds resulted in under-provision of services with public goods’ characteristics. The Chinese experience has generated important lessons for other nations. Firstly, a decline in the role of government in financing public health services is likely to result in decreased overall efficiency of the health sector. Secondly, levying charges for public health services can reduce demand for these services and increase the risk of disease transmission. Thirdly, market-oriented financing reforms of public health services should not be considered as a policy option. Once this step is made, the unintended consequences may outweigh the intended ones. Chinese experience strongly suggests that the government should take a very active role in financing public health services.

Equalization as a State Function in Education, Public Health, and Welfare

Previous articleNext article No AccessEqualization as a State Function in Education, Public Health, and WelfareWilliam G. CarrWilliam G. Carr Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Social Service Review Volume 4, Number 4Dec., 1930 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/630781 Views: 1Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1930 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Tianxiang Chen, Ying Wang, Xiaoyi Luo, Yuxuan Rao, Lei Hua Inter-provincial inequality of public health services in China: the perspective of local officials’ behavior, International Journal for Equity in Health 17, no.11 (Jul 2018).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-018-0827-8