Assessing the Quality of Care at Primary Health Care Level in Two Pilot Regions of Albania

Resumo

The quality of care (QoC) of primary health care (PHC) services in Albania faces challenges on multiple levels including governance, access, infrastructure and health care workers. In addition, there is a lack of trust in the latter. The Health for All Project (HAP) funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation therefore aimed at enhancing the population's health by improving PHC services and implementing health promotion activities following a multi-strategic health system strengthening approach. The objective of this article is to compare QoC before and after the 4 years of project implementation. A cross-sectional study was implemented at 38 PHC facilities in urban and rural locations in the Diber and Fier regions of Albania in 2015 and in 2018. A survey measured the infrastructure of the different facilities, provider–patient interactions through clinical observation and patient satisfaction. During clinical observations, special attention was given to diabetes and hypertensive patients. Infrastructure scores improved from base- to endline with significant changes seen on national level and for rural facilities ( p < 0.01). Facility infrastructure and overall cleanliness, hygiene and basic/essential medical equipment and supplies improved at endline, while for public accountability/transparency and guidelines and materials no significant change was observed. The overall clinical observation score increased at endline overall, in both areas and in rural and

Tipo

Artigo

Área

Saúde

Ano

2021

Idioma

Inglês

Páginas

11

Licença

CC BY

DOI

10.3389/fpubh.2021.747689

Como citar (ABNT)

SARIC, Jasmina et al.. Assessing the Quality of Care at Primary Health Care Level in Two Pilot Regions of Albania. Frontiers in Public Health, v. 9, 2021. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.747689.