Primary Health Care Objectives

Strategic Objectives for Primary Health Care

• Improving the quality of primary health services
• Controlling communicable diseases
• Controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
• Promoting mental health and addiction control services
• Promoting reproductive health, family planning, and child health services
• Limiting environment-related health risks
• Promoting all components of school health services
• Promoting healthy practices in the community
• Promoting occupational health programs

Social Determinants of Health Equity

• Study by Al-Rimawi et al. (2021) aimed to describe and predict social determinants of accessing healthcare as an indicator of health equity among patients with chronic diseases in Jordan
• Cross-sectional study of 320 patients from three hospitals
• Hierarchical regression was used to predict social determinants of accessing healthcare
• Seven predictors were statistically significant, with household income and gender being the strongest contributors
• Higher income and being female predicted higher scores on accessibility
• Distance from hospital predicted lower scores on accessibility

Health Equity and Nursing

• Healthcare equity is key to advancing health equity
• Nurses play a crucial role in advancing healthcare equity
• Social determinants of health (SDOH) are essential in understanding health equity
• Roadmap to Health Equity involves addressing SDOH and promoting health equity

Healthcare Equity

• Healthcare equity means efforts to ensure that all people have full and equal access to opportunities that enable them to lead healthy lives.
• It involves equitable access, experience, and outcomes for every patient.

Healthcare Inequities

• Healthcare inequities are differences in health that are avoidable, unfair, and unjust.
• They are affected by social, economic, and environmental conditions.

Healthcare Disparities

• Healthcare disparities are differences in health outcomes among groups of people.
• They can be reduced by promoting healthcare equity.

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)

• SDOH are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that shape health.
• They include factors like socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood and physical environment, employment, and social support networks, as well as access to health care.

Examples of Healthcare Equity

• Providing low-cost, basic healthcare services to low-income neighborhoods.
• Offering mobile health screenings to provide treatment to those without transportation.
• Providing free health seminars targeted toward the health issues of minority groups.
• Offering health appointments after hours so that employees can see a doctor without taking time off work.
• Offering better employer-funded healthcare programs.

Roadmap to Health Equity

• Step 1: Linking Quality and Equity.
• Step 2: Creating a Culture of Equity.
• Step 3: Diagnosing the Disparity.
• Step 4: Designing the Activity.
• Step 5: Securing Buy-In.
• Step 6: Implementing Change.

Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA)

• HEIA is a structured method to include equity in health planning and decision making.
• It helps to address and anticipate any unintended health impacts that a plan, policy, or program might have on vulnerable or marginalized groups.
• HEIA has five primary purposes for users:
  • Help identify potential unintended health impacts (positive or negative) of a planned policy, program, or initiative on vulnerable or marginalized groups.
  • Help develop recommendations to mitigate negative impacts and maximize positive impacts on the health of vulnerable and marginalized groups.
  • Embed equity across an organization's existing and prospective decision-making models.
  • Support equity-based improvements in program or service design.
  • Help achieve health equity and eliminate health disparities.