Accessibility of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Service in Sub-District Health Promoting Hospitals that Transfer to the Provincial Administrative Organization: A Case Study of Kamphaeng Phet Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to study the accessibility of health promotion and disease prevention services and barriers to access health promotion and disease prevention services in the context of sub-district health-promoting hospitals that transferred to the provincial administrative organization; a case study of Kamphaeng Phet Province. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and focus group discussions. There were seventy key informants participating in in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, and 418 respondents completed the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze data.  The results revealed that the accessibility of health promotion and disease prevention services in sub-district health-promoting hospitals transferring to the Provincial Administrative Organization and satisfaction of health service provided by sub-district health-promoting hospitals were at a high level of 67.7 %. The key barriers to accessing health promotion and disease prevention services in the context of sub-district health-promoting hospitals that transferred to the provincial administrative organizations were 1) Lack of family physicians to provide services as required by law enforcement, 2) Insufficient number of personnel due to manpower allocation, 3) Personnel concerned about working according to the regulations of the Ministry of Interior, 4) Village health volunteers concerned about operational guidelines, 5) Inadequate communication of information, 6) Node hospitals might not be able to allocate resources (person, budget, appliances) to non-affiliated health care hospitals in long term, and 7) Budget allocation supporting sub-district health promoting hospitals delayed and inadequate. For problems encountered by clients, it indicated that clients without car or clients with daily wage might not access to the service or attend sub-district health promoting hospitals’ activities. Furthermore, people rarely pay attention to health promotion and disease prevention. The result of this study will be useful in determining guidelines for providing services in the context of the sub-district health-promoting hospitals underneath the provincial administrative organization. It would serve people’s needs and cover all dimensions that strengthen their quality of life.