[Factors affecting the development of evidence-based health policy papers at the Ministry of Health Care and Medical Education]

Introduction: successful reduction in the gap between applied knowledge and pure knowledge, depends on the identification of factors affecting it .The objective of the study was to identify the barriers and facilitators to the development of evidence-based papers from the perspective of their producers at the Ministry of Health Care and Medical Education headquarter office

Methods: qualitative approach and framework analysis were used in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of producers of evidence-based policy papers. MAXQDA10 Software was used to applying the codes and managing the data

Results: three themes of behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs and control beliefs and 18 subthemes were identified. Behavioral beliefs included: knowledge and innovation, quality of policy papers, use of resources, contextualization and time-consuming; normative beliefs consisted of policymakers, policy authorities, policy administrators, and co-workers; and control beliefs involved: access to evidence, recruitment policy, management and policy stability, performance management, empowerment, policy making process, physical environment, and competing factors

Conclusion: most of the barriers were related to control beliefs. This finding corresponds to 85/15 rule in TQM [Total Quality Management]. This theory-based study identified the factors influencing the development of evidence-based policy papers in terms of all the components of theory of planned behavior, but the factors identified in the exploratory studies were related to one component of the theory. This finding advocates the theoretical approach to identify affecting factors on a behavior

[Formulating and assessing evaluation indictors of administrative reform: a case study]

Introduction: The administrative reform is one of the means to achieve economic social and cultural policy development. Given the necessity of administrative reform monitoring, this study aimed to identify and measure the indicators of administrative reform in the medical school of Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Methods: A mixed sequential qualitative-quantitative approach was employed. The indicators of evaluation were identified through document analysis. In the first phase, 8 semi-structured interviews and the views of 5 experts were collected. Then, we used a researcher- developed checklist to evaluate the current status of the selected school. The checklist was completed through on-site visiting, observation, interview and document review which were then analyzed manually

Results: A set of 150 indicators of administrative reform evaluation, categorized in 10 domains and 36 areas was identified. The total score of evaluation was 28%. The employment equity and payment system domain showed the highest score [55%] and the organizing of human resources domain lowest score

Conclusion: Given the relatively poor results of the administrative reform and the continuity of the reform in Iran development plans, we recommend accelerating the efforts of defining and implementing the administrative reform. Our developed checklist can be used by policy makers and managers

[Stratification of Kermanshah province districts in terms of health structural indicators using scalogram Model]

Accessing developmental goals and decreasing regional inequality requires regional planning in developing countries. Therefore, it is important to identify developmental position of regions relative to each other. The aim of this study was to classify Kermanshah province townships about situation of health structural enjoyment indicators using Scalogram Model. This is a descriptive study and it determines health structural enjoyment indicators in townships of Kermanshah province. Data related to indicators were collected in 3 categories of institutional, human resources and rural health by the researcher using statistical yearbook. Data analysis was done using Scalogram Model, Excel 2010 and SPSS/18. There is a large gap between townships of Kermanshah province in terms of enjoyment of structural indicators of health services. Kermanshah and Javanrud Townships with 81 score and Sarpol e Zahab Township with 39 score were the highest and lowest scores respectively from enjoyment of health structural indicators. Generally, 50% of townships were in less developed and underdeveloped level whereas 35.72% of townships were in developed level. High development was related to manpower indicator and low development was related to rural health institutional indicator. In order to improve less developed indicators and decrease the difference in enjoyment of health services indicators among townships, it is proposed that, development-oriented planning to be carried out appropriately with levels of development in these townships

[Qualitative and quantitative performance of equipment and non-structural vulnerability in selected public hospitals in Tehran city during an earthquake]

One of the important tasks of medical centers is to provide emergency services to the injured during an earthquake. Therefore, these medical centers always should be prepared to deal with such circumstances. Non-structural elements are the important components of medical centers that should be considered. In this study, qualitative and quantitative performance of equipment and non-structural vulnerability of seven public hospitals in Tehran city have been evaluated during an earthquake. In this cross-sectional research, all public hospitals in Tehran city were studied including governmental or public, private, military and also social security. Using WHO/PAHO Standard Checklist, seven public hospitals were selected and evaluated by convenience sampling method in eleven sections. According to the results, the lowest functional level was observed in emergency exit systems, communication systems, furniture and equipment. The studied hospitals were at a satisfactory level in heating and cooling systems, ventilation systems of care units, fire detection and extinguisher. Although 56% of the mentioned hospitals were at a satisfactory level in overall assessment of performance in non-structural features, the critical, vital and effective sections of the hospitals were functioning at an average and some in even low levels of safety. Totally, the hospitals lacked a proper preparation in disaster in non-structural evaluation; furthermore, there was a standard instruction in non-structural immunization that hospitals should consider in preparation

Disaster response planning: an effective approach to disaster risk reduction in health and care organizations in Iran

Disasters are fortunately rare occurrences. However, careful planning and training are necessary in order to adequately prepare individual health and care organizations for such events. This paper aims to investigate disaster management planning and related exercises of health organizations in Iran. A quantitative and cross sectional study were performed and 230 questionnaires were distributed among the health managers about comprehensive planning, operational cards or operational standard plans, business contingency plans and continuity plans. Data was analyzed by using SPSS and various statistical tests. Contingency plans, business continuity plans and action cards need to be employed although there are comprehensive plans within the organizations. Operational committees of disaster management have not taken appropriate measures to improve the ability and to deal with disasters. In order to improve the national disaster management system, some measures should be taken such as re-engineering the current system, implementing appropriate plans and preparedness, compiling standards and protocols, training staff and regular exercises