Asia-Pacific Journal of Health Management (ACHSM)
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Adding Value to The Recruitment of Senior Health Service Managers: A participatory action research study
No full textObjective: As healthcare services evolve, effective management is essential to ensure they remain contemporary, function effectively, deliver client-centered care, foster a positive culture, support staff, drive strategic direction and promote continuous quality improvement. Health managers strongly influence and drive the services they are responsible for, therefore appointing the right person is essential. This qualitative Participatory Action Research (PAR) study explores the values prioritised by health services in recruiting senior managers and collaboratively develops actionable solutions to enhance these crucial recruitment processes.
Design: A Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology has been used to enable the researchers to work collaboratively with participants to develop an understanding of the values of senior managers and explore possible solutions to improve recruitment processes. PAR is a dynamic and iterative process, and data is collected over several cycles with the same focus group participants. This paper shares the findings of the first two cycles.
Results: The findings from PAR cycle one demonstrated that the values of senior managers are represented by a central organising concept of ‘leadership’. The second PAR cycle identified values-based recruitment (VBR) as a central organising concept for improving recruitment, leading to concrete solutions such as enhanced communication strategies, leadership capability frameworks and ‘growing your own’ initiatives.
Conclusion: This study highlights the need to explore the values of an individual in addition to their skills, knowledge and experience during the recruitment process for a senior health service manager. This study underscores the critical importance of integrating individual values, particularly leadership attributes, alongside traditional skills and experience in senior health services manager recruitment, offering a clear pathway for more effective and sustainable talent acquisition strategies within healthcare
Wearables in Healthcare: A study of patient perceptions, usage, and barriers to effective integration: - Confab 360 Degree Annual Conference in Dubai, 2025
No full textWearable devices are transforming the healthcare sector by facilitating continuous health monitoring, promoting proactive patient management, and enhancing overall health outcomes. From basic fitness bands to sophisticated health sensors, these devices gather real-time data on vital signs, physical activity, and other physiological metrics, providing crucial insights for both patients and medical professionals. Despite the growing adoption of wearables, there remains a need to understand user perceptions, actual usage patterns, and challenges. Such insights can help bridge gaps in healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes, for various patient groups.
This study investigates patients’ perceptions, usage behaviour, and the perceived limitations of wearable health technologies through a structured survey.
Findings indicate that while awareness and adoption levels are relatively high, a significant proportion of users remain sceptical about the effectiveness of wearables for long-term health monitoring. The most valued benefits cited by respondents are physical activity tracking, sleep monitoring, and stress tracking. However, key challenges include concerns over data privacy and accuracy, lack of seamless integration with formal healthcare systems, limited digital literacy, accessibility issues, high costs, and inadequate battery performance.
The findings highlight a critical gap between adoption and trust in wearable health technologies, underscoring the need for improved reliability, data privacy, user education, and healthcare integration to enhance patient confidence and outcomes. Overcoming these challenges is key to unlocking the full benefits of wearables in delivering accessible and effective healthcare
Needs Analysis of Puberty Reproductive Health Literacy for Blind Students
No full textDigital health is a discipline encompassing the study and application of digital technology to enhance health systems. It involves using digital health technology to benefit the general public, healthcare professionals, healthcare service providers, and the industry by empowering individuals and promoting a comprehensive health agenda. This uses a qualitative methodology, explicitly utilizing the phenomenological design. This study included a questionnaire analysis to assess the reproductive health needs of adolescents experiencing puberty. Additionally, we conducted in-depth interviews to collect data. School teachers, peers, and the use of online sites for information retrieval are the primary sources for providing reproductive health education to adolescent children. process encounters several challenges due to societal taboos and discomfort surrounding sensitive topics like sexuality. Consequently, children, including those with special needs and who require specialized approaches, often experience delays in acquiring knowledge about reproductive health. There is a pressing need for innovation in the healthcare sector to enhance the provision of digital services to various communities, including students
Comparison of Quality of Care and Welfare Services for Middle-aged and Older Disabled Individuals in Iran and Lebanon Using ServQual Model
No full textObjectives: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating and comparing the quality of care and welfare services for middle-aged and older disabled individuals in Iran and Lebanon.
Methods: This analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2023 to April 2024. The samples included 84 middle-aged and older disable clients receiving welfare services in Iran and Lebanon, who were selected by simple random sampling. In order to measure the quality of services and the level of satisfaction, a questionnaire ServQual scale was used to determine the performance gap. The study data were interpreted using SPSS version 28 and JAMOVI version 2.3.21.
Results: The years of receiving services (YS) for Iranians and Lebanese was 18.49 (SD = 6.36), 15.7 (SD = 4.81), 20.59 (SD = 6.61) respectively. The YS and weighted ServQual have statistically significant deference between disabled citizens of each country (P < 0 .001), wServQual has statistically significant deference between Lebanese men and women (P < 0 .001), additionally wServQual has statistically significant deference between Iranian and Lebanese women (P < 0 .001). In the comparison between two countries, there was no significant difference in the mean scores of wServQual between Iranian and Lebanese men (P > 0.05). But this index was significantly different between women of two nations (P < 0.05). In the inter-gender comparison, the mean scores of the wServQual were significantly different between Lebanese men and women, but has no significant difference in the population of Iranian men and women (P > 0.05). The gender in Lebanese population, and years of age and nationality among Iranian and Lebanese women have the most predictive variables on wServQual score.
Discussion and Conclusion: It is recommended that by concentrating on the dimensions of the ServQual index, the effectiveness of care services for these individuals can be enhanced
A Global Bibliometric Analysis of Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Future research and policy implications
No full textIntroduction: Under the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness has become a major public health concern worldwide. This study is conducted to systematically evaluate existing literature on loneliness during the pandemic to identify research trends and knowledge gaps for future studies and policy developments.
Methods: Original articles and reviews related to COVID-19 loneliness, published from 2020 to 2023, were retrieved from the Web of Science database. Research collaboration and keyword co-occurrence analyses were performed using VOSviewer software. Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm from STATA was used to analyze common topics and research trends.
Results: From 2020 to 2023, a total of 3,817 publications on COVID-19 loneliness were extracted. Regarding international collaboration, the United States and England produced the largest research output and had the most extensive network collaboration with other countries in the field. Main research topics included the risk factors for loneliness during the pandemic, its impacts on people’s well-being, and social support interventions. However, there is a lack of research on adolescents, children, and behavioral changes such as increased smoking, unhealthy alcohol consumption, and substance use due to loneliness during the pandemic.
Conclusions: Our study highlights an increasing interest in research on loneliness during the pandemic and suggests the need for enhanced global cooperation between developed and developing countries. Moreover, researchers and policymakers should focus more on the long-term effects of COVID-19 loneliness on adolescents and children, behavioral lifestyle changes, as well as targeted social support programs using family-based interventions and communication technologies
Is “E-Health Literacy” Related To “Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy”: Facilitating dissemination of health information through social media in the post-COVID-19 ERA
No full textTo use electronic health information resources correctly and effectively, a set of skills and capabilities called "electronic health literacy" is needed. . This study aims to assess the E-health literacy of patients with COVID-19 in a university-affiliated education hospital and its relationship with coronavirus-related health. Using convenience sampling, 190 patients were selected, filling out the eHEALS (eHealth literacy scale) questionnaire with their consent.
The mean level of E-health literacy was 27.74 (out of 40) indicating a medium level of E-health literacy. The participants reported the most difficulty using Internet information for health-related decisions and distinguishing quality and reliable health information sources from low-quality sources. There is a significant relationship between the E-health literacy level and the age, education, and income variables, but nothing was observed with the gender variable. E-health literacy was significantly related to coronavirus-related health literacy.
In the post-corona era, considering the comprehensive impact of electronic health literacy and disease-related health literacy on the process of control and prevention, it is suggested that health policymakers internationally first get information about the state of health literacy in both dimensions, electronic and disease-related. Also, it is expected of policymakers to find tested solutions to upgrade the level of E-health literacy and coronavirus-related health literacy
Association Between Health-Seeking Behavior and Health Service Utilization Among Slum Residents: A cross-sectional study from a developing country
No full textBackground: Health-seeking behavior (HSB) refers to how individuals respond to health issues and significantly influences health service utilization (HSU). This study examines the association between HSB and HSU among marginalized populations in Iran.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 and targeted adults (aged ≥18 years) residing in the slum areas of Kerman city, southeastern Iran. A cluster sampling method was employed based on population census data provided by the district health center, identifying 233 clusters. The final sample included 840 households. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using two standardized and validated questionnaires assessing HSB and HSU. Three trained research teams conducted the interviews. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed using STATA 14 software.
Results: Multivariate analysis revealed that marital status, household size, treatment duration, current illness experience, disease acceptance, and stress were positively associated with inpatient service utilization (p<0.01). In contrast, higher education levels and greater disease-related knowledge were inversely associated with inpatient service use (p<0.01). Regarding outpatient services, factors such as insurance status, initial consultation for illness, perception of received healthcare quality, illness concealment, and situational factors were linked to lower outpatient service utilization (p<0.01). Conversely, timely healthcare access and the influence of advertising and health information accessibility were associated with increased outpatient service use (p<0.01).
Conclusion: This study highlights the significant role of demographic factors and HSB in shaping inpatient and outpatient service utilization. Given the adverse effects of marginalization on healthcare access, policymakers should prioritize improving economic and cultural conditions and implementing targeted educational initiatives, including media campaigns. Addressing financial barriers and introducing tailored interventions can reduce disparities and empower marginalized communities to access timely and appropriate healthcare services
Competencies, Capabilities and Development Capacity
No full textIn leading and managing health, aged and social care organisations and systems professionals need to be able to rely on ongoing effective learning and knowledge attainment. Irrespective of the role, function, experience or practice of individual leaders and managers, such a commitment is about growth and development personally and professionally. The competencies – capabilities – development capacity continuum requires an ongoing commitment.... 
The Accessibility and Acceptability of Health Services in Remote Rural Areas
No full textHealth services depend on community facilities and infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. If facilities and infrastructure are not improved, it is feared that equitable distribution, including accessibility and acceptability of health services, will be difficult. This challenge still exists in underdeveloped villages. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of accessibility and acceptability factors on the level of patient satisfaction in underdeveloped villages. A quantitative research type, analytical survey with cross-sectional approach was conducted. Sampling, using the Slovin formula, resulted in 287 respondents. Data were collected using a questionnaire. There was a significant relationship between accessibility (p=0.001) and acceptability (p=0.002) on the level of patient satisfaction in underdeveloped villages. However, accessibility was the most significant factor influencing patient satisfaction at the multivariate level (Exp(B)=3.639 95% CI=1.547-6.137, p=0.019). Health facilities in rural areas still need to be improved, especially in terms of accessibility, to attract the attention of the community to seek care
Assessment of the Physical And Functional Aspects of Primary Health Care Centers
No full textBackground: Adequate information and data are required for assessing the primary health care system’s performance. This study aimed to assess the physical and functional aspects of a sample of primary health care centers in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on eight randomly selected primary health care centers in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan Region. An assessment tool was designed to evaluate the selected centers' physical and functional performance, including physical infrastructure, workforce, preventive care, curative care, and support. We adopted a scoring system to measure performance based on several criteria for every aspect.
Results: The overall quality of physical and functional aspects of the primary health care centers was low. Two primary health care centers were judged to perform well, and both were in Erbil city. The centers located in Erbil city performed best in most aspects, followed by the centers in areas around Erbil city. The primary concerns causing the poor performance of various aspects were poor building status and unsuitable waiting areas for the physical structure component, unavailability of diagnostic facilities for curative care, and shortage of family planning services and lack of female doctors for preventive care. Other major concerns were the low health staff ratio compared to administrative staff and the unavailability of training and continuing professional development opportunities.
Conclusions: The primary health care centers performed poorly in most physical and functional aspects. This poor performance was particularly evident in the centers located outside Erbil city. The main components and issues affecting the performance were recognized and described