Feasibility of a multifaceted educational strategy for strengthening rural primary health care

• Published in: Salud pública de México Vol. 59; no. 3; pp. 248 - 257
• Main Authors: Reyes-Morales, Hortensia, Gómez-Bernal, Enrique, Gutiérrez-Alba, Gaudencio, Aguilar-Ye, Arturo, Ruiz-Larios, José Arturo, Alonso-Núñez, Gabriel de Jesús
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mexico Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública 01-05-2017
• Subjects: Adult; continuing; education; Feasibility Studies; Female; health care quality, access, and evaluation; Health Personnel - education; Health Policy & Services; Humans; Male; Mexico; Middle Aged; primary health care; Primary Health Care - standards; Quality Improvement; rural health services; Rural Health Services - standards; Young Adult; health care quality, access, and evaluation; atención primaria de salud; rural health services; México; primary health care; mejoramiento de la calidad; educación continua; acceso y evaluación de la atención de salud; quality improvement; Mexico; servicios de salud rural; education, continuing; calidad
• ISSN: 0036-3634; 1606-7916
• DOI: 10.21149/8073

To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a comprehensive educational strategy designed to improve care quality in rural areas of Mexico.
A demonstration study was performed in 18 public rural health centers in Mexico, including an educational intervention that consists of the following steps: Development of the strategy; Selection and training of instructors (specialist physicians from the referral hospital and multidisciplinary field teams); Implementation of the strategy among health care teams for six priority causes of visit, through workshops, individual tutorials, and round-table case-review sessions. Feasibility and acceptability were evaluated using checklists, direct observation, questionnaires and in-depth interviews with key players.
Despite some organizational barriers, the strategy was perceived as worthy by the participants because of the personalized tutorials and the improved integration of health teams within their usual professional practice.
The educational strategy proved to be acceptable; its feasibility for usual care conditions will depend on the improvement of organizational processes at rural facilities.