The WHO European Office for Integrated Health Care Services in Barcelona is an integral part of the World Health Organizations' Regional Office for Europe. The main purpose of the Barcelona office is within the integration of services to encourage and facilitate changes in health care services in order to promote health and improve management and patient satisfaction by working for quality, acc...

BACKGROUND According to the World Health Organization, one in every 10 people has a disability, and more than two-thirds of them do not receive any type of oral dental care. The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 guarantees all civilians including disabled people the right to healthcare, shaping the guidelines of the Brazilian National Health Care System (Sistema Único de Saúde--SUS). However, ther...

To promote the utilization of maternal health services and reduce financial barriers, the Laos government introduced its "Free Maternal Health Services Policy" in 2012. This policy provides free maternal health services for pregnant women, which includes costs related to treatment, transportation, food fees, referral and an incentive for four antenatal care appointments. This study aims to asce...

BACKGROUND Accessible sexual, reproductive, and mental healthcare services are crucial for adolescent health and wellbeing. It has been reported that school-based healthcare (SBHC) has the potential to improve the availability of services particularly for young people who are normally underserved. Locating health services in schools has the potential to reduce transport costs, increase accessib...

OBJECTIVE To document with whom family physicians communicate when evaluating adolescents with mental health problems, to whom they refer these adolescents, and their knowledge and perceptions of the accessibility of mental health services in their communities. DESIGN Mailed survey completed anonymously. SETTING Province of Quebec. PARTICIPANTS All general practitioners who reported seein...

At independence in 2011, South Sudan's health sector was almost non-existent. The first national health strategic plan aimed to achieve an integrated health facility network that would mean that 70% of the population were within 5 km of a health service provider. Publically available data on functioning and closed health facilities, population distribution, road networks, land use and elevation...

The aim of the study was to analyse the self-reported use of health services among the older Estonian population, to explain the predictors of health care utilisation and to study access to health services in comparison with other population groups. In November 2005, a randomly sampled Estonian residents aged 15-64 (n=1264) and 65-74 (n=182) was personally interviewed using structured questionn...

OBJECTIVE Documenting, defining and examining the state of Baja California's performance in decentralising public health service policy from the signing of the transfer agreement in 1996 up to 2004. METHODS This was a comparative study based on secondary information from 1996-2004. Four key categories were analysed: availability, accessibility, equity and health service quality. These categor...

BACKGROUND Geographical access to health care facilities is known to influence health services usage. As societies age, accessibility to health care becomes an increasingly acute public health concern. It is known that seniors tend to have lower mobility levels, and it is possible that this may negatively affect their ability to reach facilities and services. Therefore, it becomes important to ...