Primary Care Assessment Tool applied to primary health care workers from Conchalí, Santiago Background: The Chilean public health system is based on Primary Health Care (PHC), whose assessment is challenging due to the heterogeneity of services and multi-dimensionality of expected results. The Primary Care Assessment Tool was adapted and validated for Chile. Aim: To analyze, from the provider´s perspective, the structure and functioning of the health centers, to determine the achievement of PHC´s core functions: access, continuity, coordination, comprehensiveness of care, cultural competence, family centeredness and community orientation. Material and Methods: All professionals working in primary care in a commune of Metropolitan Santiago were invited to answer an online version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool. Results: One hundred and nine professionals (51% of those invited) from four Family Health Centers, two Community Health Centers, and a Community Mental Health Center, answered the online questionnaire. Their distribution by profession and health units does not resemble the whole research population, which should be considered when interpreting the results. Data show a good performance of the system: general and domain specific scores are all near three for a maximum score of four. Family centeredness obtained the highest score, whereas cultural competence had the lowest. Conclusions: Reinforcing intercultural skills and a wider approach to psycho-social problems is recommended to strengthen the new healthcare model implementation.
Proposal on the principles that should guide the ethical responsibilities of the state during the COVID-19 pandemicOn March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the number of cases of COVID-19 multiplied by 13 outside China, with a threefold increase in the number of affected countries. The WHO expressed its concern about the alarming levels of spread and severity of the outbreak, declaring the pandemic. This pandemic context is generating a social pact that seeks to ensure collective protection over individual freedoms. To meet the challenge, Governments must make decisions based on the principles that govern the State-These should consider the differences and particularities of those affected, without diverting attention from collective social protection. The following is a proposal on the ethical principles that should guide a State that makes decisions in public health emergencies.
La Promoción de la Salud (PS) es una función esencial de la salud pública que se ha puesto en tensión frente a la pandemia de la COVID-19, dado que los discursos y estrategias basados en la prevención y curación de la enfermedad han invisibilizado las condiciones de vida e inequidad que son centrales para la PS. La salud colectiva latinoamericana plantea cuestionamientos prácticos y epistemológicos sobre las acciones ante la epidemia en los países del Sur Global, proponiendo enfoques alternativos al paradigma biomédico y a lo que este entiende como PS. Desde la salud colectiva, la PS tiene como elementos centrales la autonomía de las comunidades, la importancia de sus saberes, y el fomento de acciones colectivas territoriales. Este artículo, a través de una cronología crítica de la pandemia en dos territorios, describe situaciones documentadas que ponen en evidencia el despliegue de condiciones esenciales de posibilidad para una PS desde la salud colectiva, es decir, el papel de la justicia social en la organización comunitaria, la perspectiva territorial y los procesos emancipatorios y de construcción de autonomía. Los casos analizados corresponden a un territorio insular del sur de Chile y a una comuna urbana de la capital del país, elaborados mediante el involucramiento directo de los investigadores y una revisión documental y de prensa. Sus antecedentes y contextualización evidencian las modalidades concretas que toma la PS durante la pandemia en dos contextos con características diversas, permitiendo identificar desafíos y arribar a aprendizajes iniciales sobre el desarrollo de una PS territorialmente situada.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.