OBJECTIVE We explored the concept of design quality in relation to healthcare environments. In addition, we present a taxonomy that illustrates the wide range of terms used in connection with design quality in healthcare. BACKGROUND High-quality physical environments can promote health and well-being. Developments in healthcare technology and methodology put high demands on the design quality...

PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to contribute toward a deeper understanding of the new roles, responsibilities, and job characteristics of employees in Lean healthcare organizations. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH The paper is based on three cases studies of healthcare organizations that are regarded as successful examples of Lean applications in the healthcare context. Data were collected ...

Over a decade ago Don Berwick suggested that healthcare “workers and leaders can often best find the gaps that matter by listening very carefully to the people they serve: patients and families.” Health professionals are now familiar with a range of approaches—surveys, storytelling, focus groups, online feedback (to name a few)—that can help them listen. Aminority use other techniques, such as ...

ABSTARCT BACKGROUND A recent review estimated prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in healthcare workers (HCWs) to be 4.6%. However, MRSA carriage in HCWs in non-outbreak settings is thought to be higher than in an outbreak situation, due to increased hygiene awareness in outbreaks, but valid data are missing. The goals of this paper are to summarise the prevalence o...

INTRODUCTION Within healthcare settings, HIV-related stigma is a recognized barrier to access of HIV prevention and treatment services and yet, few efforts have been made to scale-up stigma reduction programs in service delivery. This is in part due to the lack of a brief, simple, standardized tool for measuring stigma among all levels of health facility staff that works across diverse HIV prev...

BACKGROUND The health workforce has a crucial position in healthcare, and effective distribution of the workforce is one of the critical areas for healthcare improvement. This requires a proper understanding of the allocation of healthcare providers including staffing levels and staffing variability within a healthcare system. High variability may imply significant differences in outcomes and g...

Introduction: The diseases and problems due to ageing can affect the quality of life (QoL) in the elderly. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of self-care program education run by health volunteers and healthcare staff on the QoL in the elderly. Methods: In this experimental, field trial study, 150 elderly people living in Mashhad were enrolled by multistage sampling in 2014....

BACKGROUND Healthcare workers are still recognised as a high-risk group for latent TB infection (LTBI). Therefore, the screening of people employed in the healthcare sector for active and LTBI is fundamental to infection control programmes in German hospitals. It was the aim of the study to determine the prevalence and putative risk factors of LTBI. METHODS We tested 2028 employees in the hea...

BACKGROUND Patient neglect is an issue of increasing public concern in Europe and North America, yet remains poorly understood. This is the first systematic review on the nature, frequency and causes of patient neglect as distinct from patient safety topics such as medical error. METHOD The Pubmed, Science Direct, and Medline databases were searched in order to identify research studies inves...