BACKGROUND: Informal settlements are considered as one of the social problems in societies. As the residents do not have adequate access to basic services, including health services, their health is at risk. This study was conducted to evaluate the access to health services and determine the health needs of informal settlements in Bam city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the spring of 2020 in Bam. The sample size was 400 residents of informal settlements in Bam, and the multi-stage random cluster sampling was used. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using the content validity, and its reliability was 85% by Cronbach's alpha. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 23 software and descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation, and percentage) as well as analytical statistics (Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests). RESULTS: More than 50% of the individuals had good access to general practitioners and health centers. However, over 50% had poor access to dental, para-clinical, specialist, and hospital services. Furthermore, 49.3% of the people assessed their health status as poor in the previous year. A total of 46 items in the areas of communicable and non-communicable diseases, women's health, mental and social health and addiction, environmental health, etc., were identified as the most important health needs of the informal settlement residents. CONCLUSION: Informal settlements are facing various health problems including environmental health, mental and social health, and addiction, meeting which requires collaboration of all stakeholders as well as provision of a comprehensive program and appropriate service packages.
Background: Due to the increasing growth of informal and marginal settlements in Iran, the present study was conducted to analyze the contents of upstream national documents regarding city slum in Iran. Methods: This qualitative study with content analysis approach was done in 2020. MAXQDA version 12 software and conventional content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Results: The findings of this study could be classified in two main categories and 11 subcategories. The main categories included the policies related to preventing the creation of slum areas, and policies related to providing service and rehabilitation of slum areas. The 11 subcategories included preventing migration from inner cities to slum areas, poverty alleviation, preserving the rural fabric through the village guide plan, balanced distribution of population with landscaping and land development approach, creating green belts around cities, forced confrontation with illegal constructions in slum areas, impulsive phenomenon of social harms, allocation of state financial facilities to organize informal settlements, renovation of informal settlements, creating satellite towns, and providing primary health care services in the form of health care network system. Conclusion: Although providing service and rehabilitation of slum areas can play an important role in reducing harm in these areas, policymakers in Iran should be aware of a moral dilemma; since these policies can also encourage the phenomenon of city slum.
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