Difficulties faced when conducting primary health care programs in rural areas

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore the difficulties that face primary health care teams who work in rural areas in Aseer region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: This study was carried out in 1999 by distributing a multi-purposes questionnaire to all members of health teams who work in the primary health care centers located in the rural areas of Aseer region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This questionnaire consisted of 3 parts that were concerned with the characteristics of primary health care centers teams and difficulties faced by them while conducting primary health care programs during their daily activities at primary health care centers. Data was entered and analyzed by personal computer which was provided with statistical package for social sciences.

RESULTS: A total of 68 primary health care centers were located in the rural areas of Aseer region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Those primary health care centers serve 127,880 individuals who live in 657 villages. Three hundred and four members of the primary health care centers teams answered our questionnaire, 23% were physicians, 45% were nurses and 17% were Saudis. Thirty percent reported that they face some difficulties during conducting primary health care programs and 24% reported difficulties during dealing with clients. Most of the difficulties were the lack of medical facilities, rough roads and languages barriers.

CONCLUSION: This study revealed that approximately one 3rd of primary health care teams who work in the rural areas of Aseer region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia face significant difficulties that will affect the introducing of essential primary health care programs. A multi-sectoral integrated approach is mandatory to overcome these difficulties and introduce good quality care.