Assessing Preparedness of Non-Hospital Health Centers to Provide Primary Emergency Care; A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: To identify prevalent domains related to the concept of assessing preparedness of non-hospital centers to provide primary emergency care in order to develop a comprehensive framework. METHODS: Five databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of science, Barakat Knowledge Network Systems (BKNS) and Scientific Information Database (SID) were searched in English and/or Persian languages with no time limit until March, 2018. Manual search and grey literature were also done. According to the eligibility criteria, all the studies were independently tracked by two researchers. Studies were appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). The findings were synthesized through directed content analysis method. RESULTS: Out of 3014 studies, 15 studies were included for data synthesis. The synthesis of literature resulted in the emergence of 13 domains and 25 sub-domains. Then, they were categorized based on Donabedian's triple model and a conceptual framework was developed. In this framework, 6 domains were put in input, 6 in processes, and 1 domain in outcome. Of the 15 included studies, 1 study considered 10 domains and 14 other studies considered 4 to 8 domains out of 13 synthesized domains. The most prevalent synthesized domains were "medical supplies and equipment" and "human resources", which were considered in 15 studies. CONCLUSION: In this study, a conceptual framework was constructed that identifies elements that significantly affect the preparedness of these centers. This framework may assist managers to take a comprehensive approach to assess these centers.

Self-care Ability of Older People Living in Urban Areas of Northwestern Iran.

BACKGROUND: Self-care ability was considered as a mechanism to improve the quality of life and reducing the high costs of medical services for elder people. Iran is experiencing increased elder people and healthy aging is one of the challenges. This study aimed to investigate self-care ability of elder people in Shahid Chamran and Dr. Shadpour health complexes, Tabriz- Iran. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study done in 2015. "The Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE)" valid and reliable questionnaire (Persian version) was used for data collection. Totally, 220 samples were selected using G-Power 3.1.5 software. Sampling was conducted through systematic random method. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used. RESULTS: The mean of self-care ability in elder people was calculated as 56.69± 15.07 (out of 100). 96.8% of participating elderlies, had poor self-care ability. Significant relations were found between elder people self-care ability and their educational level, life status, employment status, and marital status (P<0.05). However, gender, income source, and insurance status had no relations with self-care ability of the elder people (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Self-care ability of elder people in Tabriz was at weak level. Regarding, health providers must employ the programs to promote older people self-care ability including improving self-esteem, receiving family help, improved nutrition and mental health improving elderly's quality of life.