OBJECTIVE This study compares the primary health care quality of community health centers (CHCs) and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in South Carolina to elucidate the quality of CHC performance relative to mainstream settings such as the HMO. METHODS Mail surveys were used to obtain data from 350 randomly selected HMO users. Surveys with follow-up interviews were conducted to obtain ...

Background Recent studies have shown higher neonatal mortality among births delivered by a skilled attendant at birth (SAB) compared to those who were not in sub-Saharan African countries. Deaths during the neonatal period are concentrated in the first 7 days of life, with about one third of these deaths occurring during the first day of life. We reassessed the relationship between SAB and neon...

BACKGROUND Antenatal care is one of the three most essential care - antenatal, delivery and post-natal, given to women during pregnancy and has the potential to contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.1- reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 and target 3.8 - achieve universal health coverage. The main objective is ...

BACKGROUND Preoperative frailty predicts adverse postoperative outcomes. Despite the advantages of incorporating frailty assessment into surgical settings, there is limited research on surgical healthcare professionals' use of frailty assessment for perioperative care. METHODS Healthcare professionals caring for patients enrolled at a Canadian teaching hospital were surveyed to assess their p...

The Canada Health Act provides a framework for the Canadian health system and a mechanism for federal healthcare funds to flow to the provinces. Presently, the Canada Health Act covers medically necessary hospital, physician and surgical-dental as well as limited long-term care services, but not prescription medication. Though not mandated, each province has chosen to also develop a prescriptio...

BACKGROUND Evidence-based practice (EBP) is increasing in health care services. This means that respiratory therapists (RTs) should be effective consumers, users and producers of scientific research pertaining to respiratory therapy technology and respiratory physiology. However, little is known about RT opinions and attitudes toward research. Survey instruments to measure them are also uncommo...

BACKGROUND Significant differences in health outcomes have been documented among Hispanic persons, the fastest-growing demographic segment of the United States. The objective of this study was to examine trends in population growth and the collection of health data among Hispanic persons, including issues of language preference and survey completion using a national health survey to highlight i...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of a mental health elective on pharmacy students' perceptions and stigmatizing views of mental illness. DESIGN An elective was designed that featured an advanced overview of psychopharmacology; student training in motivational interviewing; a presentation by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) local chapter; introduction to pharmacy collaborations w...

BACKGROUND Assessments of subnational progress and performance coverage within countries should be an integral part of health sector reviews, using recent data from multiple sources on health system strength and coverage. METHOD As part of the midterm review of the national health sector strategic plan of Tanzania mainland, summary measures of health system strength and coverage of interventi...

In war-torn Afghanistan, rates of maternal mortality (460 per 100,000 live births) and neonatal mortality (25 per 1,000 live births) are among the highest in the world, according to the World Health Organization and to Demographic and Health Surveys. Women have limited access to maternal and newborn care services, linked to geographic barriers, security problems, and cultural concerns about wom...