evaluation of public participation and intersectoral collaboration in family physician program in rular areas of iran

evaluation of public participation and intersectoral collaboration in family physician program in rular areas of iran etemadi f1* (bsc), malekafzali ardakani h2 (phd), dejman m3 (phd) 1 deputy health and rehabilitation sciences, university of welfare and rehabilitation, tehran, iran 2 national institute of health research, the islamic republic of iran, tehran, iran 3 centre for research on social determinants of health, university of welfare and rehabilitation, tehran, iran original article received: 14 apr 2015, accepted: 27 jun 2015 abstract introduction: family physician program (fpp) has been performed by ministry of health and medical education in iran villages, since 2004. major roles of this program included providing competiveness, permanency, management health services, cooperation with other sectors and presenting healthy packages to population. due to the importance of public and intersectoral collaboration in achievement of fpp goals, the present study aimed to explore the people and other relevant sectors participation to empower the fpp, and to obtain an appropriate resource allocation. methods: a mixed method study was conducted using random, and convenient sampling in quantitative and qualitative studies, respectively. the data was collected using health questionnaire (eight dimensions), in quantitative study, and in-depth interviewes and focus group discussions, in qualitative study, in order to explore six objectives. interviews were conducted with the program managers at the province level, key informants, and people. the results of the qualitative study is presented in this paper. results:  the results showed that the people have not participated in the program for different reasons (e.g. resource deficiencies, instrumental involvement to provide equipment, and health costs). different level of intersectorial interaction, and instrumental involvement could be remarked as the possible reasons for non-involvement of the other sectors participants. conclusion: the lack of providing the program prerequisites, and problems in executive process (e.g. limited financial and human resource) were some of weaknesses of the fpp. key words: family physician, evaluation and monitoring, participation please cite this article as follows: etemadi f, malekafzali ardakani h, dejman m. evaluation of public participation and intersectoral collaboration in family physician program in rular areas of iran. hakim health sys res 2015; 18(3): 182- 193.   *corresponding author: university of welfare and rehabilitation, tehran, iran. tel: +98- 21-22180108,  fax: +98- 21-22180008. e-mail:[email protected]