Health Education as a Primary Health Care Component: Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis Nurses’ Perspectives

Abstract

Background: One of the primary functions of frontliners in primary health care facilities is to equip the community with the required knowledge and skills. The aim of the study was to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of health education as a Primary Health Care component from nurses' perspectives. Subjects and Methods: Research design: A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Setting: The study was conducted at four primary health care centers affiliated to Giza city administrative sector. Subjects: Twenty-four nurses who had been working at the primary healthcare centers as purposive sample. Tools of data collection: Two tools were used for data collection. Tool (I): Demographic characteristics of the nurses were included such as age, qualification, and years of experience. Tool (II): Focus Group Discussion and individual interview to conduct SWOT analysis matrix Results: Regarding the demographic characteristics of the participants the study findings revealed that the mean scores of ages was 39.7±9.1 and years of experience was 12.17 ±6.17. While the SWOT analysis matrix according to participants' perspectives revealed nine strengths such as existence of the Presidential initiatives' services, eighteen weaknesses as inadequate cooperation and coordination among healthcare teams regarding health education activities, five opportunities as Egypt vision and plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and nine threats as globalization and expansion of social media networks that contains health information, and the economic crise. Conclusion The SWOT analysis matrix had been deemed nine strengths, eighteen weaknesses, five opportunities and nine threats factors. The SWOT findings can be viewed as interrelated factors that lead to each other. Thus, by employing the study findings of the strengths and opportunities and address the threats and weaknesses; the evidence related to health education component of the Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation (GAHAR) for PHC 2021-2025 can be achieved.