Keywords
Immunization services
Health Workers Sensitization
Nigeria
Abstract
Clients? satisfaction with services received is an important dimen- sion of evaluation that is examined only rarely in developing coun- tries. Health care professionals have always acknowledged that satisfying the consumers at some level is essential to providing ser- vices of high quality. This is a quasi-experimental study. The study group included 150 mothers bringing their children for immuniza- tion at Alanamu Health Centre, Ilorin. The control group included 150 mothers bringing their children for immunization at Okelele Health Centre. Total population of mothers bringing their children for vaccines against tuberculosis/poliomyelitis/hepatitis B (BCG/ OPV/HBV) and against diphterite-pertussis-tetanus (DPT)/OPV/ HBV were recruited sequentially until sample size was attained. Mean waiting time at pre-intervention was 82.7 ± 32.5 and 90.4 ± 41.7 minutes for the study and control groups respectively. Post intervention, there was a significant decrease (p inf. 0.05) in the estimated waiting time in the study group (mean = 48.0 ± 24.4 minutes) while there was no observed difference in the control p > 0.05 (mean = 88.4 ± 40.6 minutes). Perceived adequacy of information on services being provided by the health facility was low (58%) in the study group while it was relatively higher in the control group (80%), but there was a significant increase in pro- portion of those that felt information was adequate only in the study group (p inf. 0.05) at post intervention. Waiting time in health facili- ties by clients should be reduced as this may give clients a positive perception of the service they have come to access. Information dis- semination to clients should be encouraged among health workers as this would affect clients? knowledge and also quality of health care delivery.References
Jencks SF, Welensky GR. The health care quality improvement initiative: A new approach to quality assurance in medical. JAMA. 1992;268:900–903.
Blumenthal D. Quality of care-what is it? N Engl J Med. 1996;335:891–893.
Tangcharoensathien V, Benett S, Khongswatter S, et al. Patient satisfaction in Bangkok; the impact of hospital ownership and payment status. Int J Qual Health Care. 1999;11:309–317.
Mully AG., jr . Industrial quality management science and outcomes research; responses to unwanted variation in health outcomes. In: Blumenthal D, Scheck AC, editors. Management and the Physician. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1995. pp. 73–100.
Veenstra M, Hofoss D. Patient experience with information in a hospital setting: A multi level approach. Medcare. 2003;41:490–499.
Daniels N, Bryant J, Castano RA, et al. Bench Marks of fairness for health car reform: a policy tool for developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2000;78:740–750.
Gotlieb JB. Understanding the effects of Nurses patients' hospital rooms and patients' perception of control on the perceived quality of a hospital. Health Mark Q. 2000;18:1–14.
Singh H, Haqq ED, Mustapha N. Patients perception and satisfaction with health care professionals at primary care facilities in Trinidad and Tobago. Bull World Health Organ. 1999;72:356–360.
Nolan Y. Promote effective communication and relationships. Care NVQ level. 1998;2:36–63.
Donabedian A. The definition of quality and approaches to its assessment. Vol. 1. Chicago: Health Administration Press; 1980. Explorations in quality assessment and monitoring.
Council on medical service , author. Quality of Care. JAMA. 1986;266:1032–1034.
Donabedian A. The quality of care, how can it be assessed. JAMA. 1988;260:1743–1748.
Fitzpatrick R. Surveys of patient satisfaction: I--Important general considerations. BMJ. 1991;302:887–889.
USAID/UNFPA , author. The 1999 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey policy and programme implication central zone. National population commission; 1999.
Kwara State Ministry of Health. unpublished.
Aldana JM, Piecholek H, Alsabir A. Client satisfaction and Quality of Health Care in rural Bangladesh. Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79:512–516.
Akande TM, Musa IO, Hussain N. Perception of patients on quality of health care service at a Teaching hospital in Ilorin Nigeria. Euro J Sci Res. 2005;11:86–95.
Ademola-Popoola, Akande TM, Idris A. Patients' assessment of quality of Eye care in a Nigerian Teaching hospital. Niger Postgrad Med J. 2005;12(3):145–148.
Blender R, Maxey C. Are your patients patiently waiting? What to do about patient wait times. J Med Pract Manage. 2000;16:66–69.
Okolo SN, Ogbonna C, Bode-Thomas F. Health care service auditing and intervention in an Emergency Paediatric unit. Niger J Paediatr. 2002;29:71–74.
Ling JCS, Barefield P. Building bridges between doctors and patients. World Health Forum. 989;10:28–29.
Akande TM. Knowledge of mothers attending EPI clinics in Ilorin about childhood immunization. J Comm Med Prim Health Care. 1996;5:10–19.
Turan JM, Bulut A, Ortayali N, et al. The quality of hospital based antenatal care in Instabul. Stud Fam Plann. 2006;37:49–60.
Akande TM. Patient's perception on communication between patients and doctors in a teaching hospital. Sahel Med J. 2002:178–181.
Federal Ministry of Health Lagos , author. National Immunization Policy and Standard of Practice. 1995
Boller C, Wyss K, Mtasiwa D, et al. Quality and comparison of antenatal care in public and private providers in the united republic of Tanzania. Bull World Health Organ. 2003;81:116–122.
Fonn S, Xaba M. Health workers for change: developing the initiative. Health Policy Plan. 2001;16(Suppl 1):13–18.