مجله تصویر سلامت
سال چهارم شماره 2 (تابستان 1392)

Results of the previous studies indicate that nutrition as one of the basic elements in patient safety is neglected or plays a minor role in treatment process. This study aimed to assess patient satisfaction with food services in teaching hospitals of Tabriz University of medical sciences. This cross-sectional study was conducted in teaching hospitals of Tabriz University of medical sciences. A total 314 number of available beds were selected. Data gathering tool was a LIKERT-based researcher–made questionnaire with 15 questions. Validity and reliability of the tool were verified by Delphi method and Cronbach’s alpha test of 0.91. Sample t-test and ANOVA were used to analyze data. This study’s findings declared the minimum satisfaction about hospitals’ food services include: patients’ demands, assistance while eating, the effect of food on improving health conditions, clean appearance of meal services, observing health standards and respect by distributors. The findings revealed a significant difference among different nutritional services in studied hospitals. However, there was not a meaningful relationship between the level of satisfaction and gender, occupation, education and place of residence. Based on the results of this study, hospital managers are recommended to carry out activities to promote awareness of food services staff regarding food safety programs, employing more nutritionists and their active presence at the patient’s bedside and providing freedom of choice for patients.

Tracer methodology is a novel evaluation method which its purpose is to provide an accurate assessment of systems and processes for the delivery of care, treatment, and services at a health care organization. This study aimed to assess student care process in Tabriz using Tracer methodology.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in autumn 1391. Population study consisted of all the students who were covered by Tabriz health care center and study sample included an urban health care center, a rural health care center, a health house, and two schools in urban and rural areas which were selected by simple sampling method. Also, all the complicated and problematic processes were chosen to be assessed. Data were collected by interviewing, observing, and surveying documents and were compared with current standards.

The results of this study declared the percentage of points that each target group gained from tracer evaluation in student care process was 77% in health house, 90% in rural health care center and 83% in urban health care center. Findings indicated that documentation was the main weak point.

According to the results of this study, student care process is sufficient; despite the fact that there are some deficiencies in caring process, as it may be improved through appropriate strategies. Furthermore, tracer methodology seems to be a proper method to evaluate various levels of health care system.

Waste production is an integral part of human life. Besides reduction in waste production, one of the most important strategies solid waste management is solid waste recycling which has environmental and economic benefits. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of Tabriz citizens to participate in recycling.

This cross-sectional study involved 450 samples, in three different regions of Tabriz with high, average and low income levels (150 from each district), selected by systematic sampling. The relevant data were collected by questionnaires and were analyzed in SPSS and Excel software.

The results of this study showed that the majority of Tabriz citizens had acceptable information about waste and recycling. Average knowledge, attitude and practices of the various regions were 86.8%, 75.6% and 59% respectively. There was no significant association in this field in three different regions (p.value > 0.05). Comparing the regions, education and welfare of the residents had no effect on the willingness to participate in recycling programs.

The results of the study reflect the community's readiness to accept the change and management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in the recycling programs. Consequently, recycling would be implemented successfully if organizations (e.g. municipalities, health center, education...) have been coordinated and collaborated with citizens.

Quality of drinking water has considerable effects on citizens’ health and its comparison with available standards and knowledge about permissible limits could provide useful information regarding community health. In the present study, the condition of quality of drinking water of Urmia County has been assessed and analyzed. Analysis results of drinking water of Urmia city and its villages were composed of 182 available analyses during 2012 and 2013 and were collected from Province Health Center. They were statistically analyzed for general parameters using SPSS and compared with national standard. Hardness of drinking water in Urmia County varied from 100 to 1040 mg/L as calcium carbonate with an average of 309 ± 144 mg/L which indicates a range of soft to very hard water. Dissolved solids were 103 to 1900 mg/L with an average of 366 ± 287 mg/L. Regarding fluoride which is important in health, concentration range varied from zero to 1.5 mg/L with an average of 0.21 ± 0.23 mg/L. Turbidity was less than 0.5 NTU in 44% of analyzed samples, between 0.5 to 1 NTU in 34% and higher than 1 NTU in 22% of samples, respectively. In comparison with national and international standards for drinking water quality, in some parts of Urmia County, the values for some quality parameters were not in accordance with permissible level and this requires corrective action. However, in general, physicochemical quality of studied waters was suitable for drinking purposes.

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For a successful accreditation program, it is necessary to have adequate resources and infrastructures. The aim of this study was to evaluate existing resources and infrastructures to implement the accreditation system.

This descriptive study was conducted in the universities of East Azerbaijan and Ardabil in 2011. A total number of 150 individuals were selected using census sampling. The data were collected by a structured questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by library validity method and its reliability was measured using split-half method (α=89.4). Data analysis was performed using SPSS 16.

The participation rate was 82% (123 individuals out of 150). Average work experience was 16.88 years. The bachelor degree was the highest frequency among participants (66%). 80% of the participants stated that the organizational culture and financial resources are inadequate, 54% expressed there is a lack of top management support and 77% stated that the expected information does not exist in the hospitals. Yet, 55% of the participants declared that the probability of a successful implementation of accreditation is higher than average.

In a successful implementation of accreditation system, it is important to mobilize adequate resources and develop suitable cultural statuses. Also, it is needed to provide sufficient education about accreditation and how to implement and benefit the manpower’s potential capabilities.

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The aim of this study was to assess the infrastructures and barriers of effective accreditation in East Azerbaijan hospitals.

In this triangulation (qualitative-quantitative) study, all the managers of 43 hospitals in East Azerbaijan were selected. The authors developed an 8-item questionnaire for quantitative section of the study which its validity was improved by experts’ comments and its reliability was assessed by half-structure methods (9. =α). In addition, two open-ended questions were used in qualitative section of the study. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA test using SPSS version 20 statistical software packages. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the responses to the two open-ended questions.

Seventy-six percent of the managers agreed to implementation of accreditation in hospitals and believed that accreditation could improve the health services and increase the patient and staff satisfaction. Fifty percent of the participants had lack of required knowledge about the accreditation and they declared that the hospitals managed by them were not prepared to implement accreditation with respect to resources, manager’s commitment, staff skills and knowledge. In Tabriz hospitals, resources and infrastructures were mentioned to exist in a significantly higher proportion than other cities (P < 0.01). Important barriers were explored to include the lack of the following: manpower, participation of clinicians, resources, appropriate documentation and information systems.

Considering the barriers and lack of infrastructures in the hospitals of East Azerbaijan to achieve an effective accreditation, it is essential to eliminate the existing barriers and provide appropriate infrastructures.

Impact Factor (IF) is considered as one of the most common subjects in academic environments. Individuals who would like to publish their productions and/or research results confront with various indicators، brands and labels that indicate relative importance، academic discipline and quality of journals. Diversity of the indicators induces confusion to select applicable journals and often، the authors would not be able to distinguish IF، ISI and their relations with the acceptance of the journal. Meanwhile، they have difficulties to find IF. Hence، this short paper aimed to provide useful information for authors to familiarize them with the concept of IF. ​