Beyond patient care: a qualitative study of rural hospitals' role in improving community health. BMJ Open 2022 Mar 16;12(3):e057450
Date
03/18/2022Pubmed ID
35296486Pubmed Central ID
PMC8928326DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057450Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85126690550 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 2 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVES: Rural population face more health disadvantages than those living in urban and suburban areas. In rural communities, hospitals are frequently the primary organisation with the resources and capabilities to address health issues. This characteristic highlights their potential to be a partner and leader for community health initiatives. This study aims to understand rural hospitals' motivations to engage in community health improvement efforts and examine their strategies to address community health issues.
DESIGN: Eleven semistructured interviews were conducted with key leaders from four rural hospitals in a US Midwestern state. On-site and telephone interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. The combination of inductive and deductive qualitative analysis was applied to identify common themes and categories.
SETTINGS: Participating hospitals are located in US rural counties that have demonstrated progress in creating healthier communities.
RESULTS: Three types of motivation drive rural hospitals' community health improvement efforts: internal values, economic conditions and social responsibilities. Three categories of strategies to address community health issues were identified: building capacity, building relationships and building programmes.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite the challenges, rural hospitals can successfully conduct community-oriented programmes. The finds extend the literature on how rural hospitals may strategise to improve rural health by engaging their communities and conduct activities beyond patient care.
Author List
Nataliansyah MM, Zhu X, Vaughn T, Mueller KAuthor
Mochamad M. Nataliansyah MD, PhD Assistant Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Hospitals, RuralHumans
Patient Care
Public Health
Qualitative Research
Rural Population
