Evaluation of the primary healthcare program in Iran: a systematic review
Mohammad Hossein Mehrolhassani A , Reza Dehnavieh B , Ali Akbar Haghdoost A and Sajad Khosravi C D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
B Medical Informatics Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
C Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
D Corresponding author. Email: khosravi.sajad@yahoo.com
Australian Journal of Primary Health 24(5) 359-367 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY18008
Submitted: 17 January 2018 Accepted: 28 May 2018 Published: 5 September 2018
Abstract
Evaluation of programs and determining its challenges to improve and implement reforms is essential in a healthcare system. A primary healthcare program was conducted since 1984 in Iran and faces various challenges after several decades of its life. The aim of this study is to evaluate Iran’s primary healthcare program and determine its challenges and weaknesses. In the present systematic review study, the published articles related to Iran’s primary healthcare were searched and collected from Iranian databases (SID, Magiran, Noormags and Irandoc) and international databases (Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar). The Iranian grey literature was also explored. In total, from 336 papers identified, 25 papers were deemed relevant after the step-by-step review of articles and removal of non-related articles. The results of this study show that primary healthcare in Iran has different challenges and weaknesses. Most of these challenges and weaknesses relate to the structure and process of primary healthcare. The Iranian primary healthcare system has achieved many successes in community health promotion, but today, because of social, economic, political and environmental changes, it does not meet the needs of the people; therefore, this system requires structural reforms.
Additional keywords: challenges, weaknesses.
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