Ethnomedicine in healthcare systems of the world: a Semester at Sea pilot survey in 11 countries

An understanding and appreciation for the varied healthcare systems in use throughout the world are increasingly vital for medical personnel as patient populations are now composed of ethnically diverse people with wide-ranging belief systems. While not a statistically valid survey, this pilot study gives a global overview of healthcare differences around the world. A pilot study of 459 individuals from 11 different countries around the world was administered by 33 students in the upper division course, People, Pathology, and World Medicine from Semester at Sea, Fall 2007, to ascertain trends in healthcare therapies. Open-ended surveys were conducted in English, through an interpreter, or in the native language. Western hospital use ranked highly for all countries, while ethnomedical therapies were utilized to a lesser degree. Among the findings, mainland China exhibited the greatest overall percentage of ethnomedical therapies, while the island of Hong Kong, the largest use of Western hospitals. The figures and trends from the surveys suggest the importance of understanding diverse cultural healthcare beliefs when treating individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. The study also revealed the increasingly complex and multisystem-based medical treatments being used internationally

Satisfação materna com o cuidado da enfermeira materno-infantil em Campeche, México

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate and compare maternal-satisfaction (global and areas) with maternal-child nursing care (MSMINC) and to explore the relationship of MSMINC with wait time, length of visit, and maternal age and education. METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive study comprising 213 mothers. Group 1 (n = 84), mothers of children agedEl objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar y comparar la satisfacción materna (global/áreas) con el cuidado de la enfermera materno infantil (MSMINC) y explorar la relación de MSMINC con el tiempo de espera, duración de la visita, edad y educación materna. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo transversal. Participaron 213 madres. Grupo 1, n = 84 madres de niñosOBJETIVO: Avaliar e comparar a satisfação materna (global e áreas) com o cuidado da enfermeira materno-infantil (SMAEMI) e explorar a relação da SMAEMI com o tempo de espera e duração da visita, idade e educação da mãe. MÉTODOS: ESTUdo descritivo-transversal com a participação de 213 mães. Grupo 1, n = 84 mães de criança

Describing the impact of health research: a Research Impact Framework

BACKGROUND: Researchers are increasingly required to describe the impact of their work, e.g. in grant proposals, project reports, press releases and research assessment exercises. Specialised impact assessment studies can be difficult to replicate and may require resources and skills not available to individual researchers. Researchers are often hard-pressed to identify and describe research impacts and ad hoc accounts do not facilitate comparison across time or projects. METHODS: The Research Impact Framework was developed by identifying potential areas of health research impact from the research impact assessment literature and based on research assessment criteria, for example, as set out by the UK Research Assessment Exercise panels. A prototype of the framework was used to guide an analysis of the impact of selected research projects at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Additional areas of impact were identified in the process and researchers also provided feedback on which descriptive categories they thought were useful and valid vis-à-vis the nature and impact of their work. RESULTS: We identified four broad areas of impact: I. Research-related impacts; II. Policy impacts; III. Service impacts: health and intersectoral and IV. Societal impacts. Within each of these areas, further descriptive categories were identified. For example, the nature of research impact on policy can be described using the following categorisation, put forward by Weiss: Instrumental use where research findings drive policy-making; Mobilisation of support where research provides support for policy proposals; Conceptual use where research influences the concepts and language of policy deliberations and Redefining/wider influence where research leads to rethinking and changing established practices and beliefs. CONCLUSION: Researchers, while initially sceptical, found that the Research Impact Framework provided prompts and descriptive categories that helped them systematically identify a range of specific and verifiable impacts related to their work (compared to ad hoc approaches they had previously used). The framework could also help researchers think through implementation strategies and identify unintended or harmful effects. The standardised structure of the framework facilitates comparison of research impacts across projects and time, which is useful from analytical, management and assessment perspectives

Measurement Of Patient Satisfaction In A Public Hospital In Ankara

This article communicates the results of a patient satisfaction survey administered to 420 adults discharged from a major public hospital in Turkey. The direct measurement of patient satisfaction is a relatively new phenomenon for this country. A system was designed similar to those available in the US and was applied during an exit interview. Three areas of analysis were identified: accessibility and availability of services, perceived quality of patient care and organizational and administrative issues. Relationships and percentages within and among several variables are reported. Overall, most individuals were satisfied with direct patient care, although in some areas this varied significantly and was based on the education level of the respondent. In addition, many customers reported discontentment with organizational and administrative support services. We recommend that hospitals in Turkey adapt routine policies similar to those in the US for conducting these types of evaluations. © 2001, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved