Characterization of Communes with Quality Accredited Primary Healthcare Centers in Chile

Accreditation of Quality in Primary Health Care in Chile: Perception of the Teams from Accredited Family Healthcare Centers

This study aimed to investigate the perception of the health teams belonging to the Family Healthcare Centers (CESFAMs) that are accredited, regarding the process of implementation and the achievement of accreditation. A qualitative approach was applied, with contributions from grounded theory, through the technique of individual in-depth interviews and focus groups. The interviews were carried out in nine accredited CESFAMs. For the presentation, organization and analysis of the data, Atlas.ti V9 software was used. From the results, derived from the open phase of the analysis, obtained from the opinions of the participants, a total of 26 categories emerged relating to the facilitating and hindering factors of the process. From the axial phase, it was possible to establish central categories that were related to quality management policies, the structure of Primary Health Care (PHC), participation and co-construction, and leadership and change management. In conclusion, the discourse of the teams reveals the need to have necessary conditions for the accreditation process, which are mainly related to training, characteristics of the types of leadership and teamwork in harmony with the process. Finally, the study reveals a gap in the community participation in this process, which suggests continuing this line of research.

Health in Chile's Recent Constitutional Process: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Civil Proposals

(1) Background: In response to the recent political crisis in Chile, the "Agreement for Social Peace and the New Constitution'' was approved. We aimed to analyze the health-related civil proposals uploaded to the official website for popular participation in the new constitution in Chile. (2) Methods: We carried out a qualitative thematic analysis of 126 health-related valid proposals. Moreover, we analyzed their link to the Health Goals 2030, established by the Ministry of Health of Chile and to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (3) Results: Sixteen main categories were reached. In all, they were organized into four main areas: (i) the right to health and the establishment of a universal health system; (ii) effective access to selected healthcare services; (iii) improving health outcomes for all and for the relevant subgroups; and (iv) the social determinants of health, health in all the policies, and community health. We found that these four areas were strongly linked to the Health Goals 2030 for Chile and to the SDGs. (4) Conclusions: Despite the fact that the new constitutional proposal was rejected in September 2022, the civil health-related proposals and the areas of health and healthcare were of interest to the citizens as the request showed a strong demand from the population for participation in matters of health, healthcare, and public health.

Accessibility in People with Disabilities in Primary Healthcare Centers: A Dimension of the Quality of Care

The purpose of this research is to evaluate universal accessibility in primary healthcare (PHC) centers in the Atacama region, Chile, through an analytical cross-sectional study with a quality approach, which uses the external audit model with the application of a dichotomous comparison guideline, evaluating levels of compliance with four dimensions of universal accessibility described in the literature: participation, information, accessibility chain and architectural aspects. This was carried out in 18 PHC, and set as Lower Control Limit (LCL) of 70% to compare levels of compliance, and a hierarchical model and k-mean analysis were applied. Results: Very low compliance averages were obtained, 37.7% participation, 4% information, 44.4% access chain, and 63.9% architectural aspects, indicating a critical situation. Moreover, the cluster comparison allowed to observe that a group of healthcare centers complies more than other groups, which requires more attention. Conclusions: The low level of accessibility for people with disabilities may be associated with various factors that require further monitoring and analysis. However, low levels of accessibility require changing the way of relating to this vulnerable group of the population, and considering including them in the design and reasonable adjustments made in PHC centers. The findings from this research open the possibility for future research that increases understanding of how to reduce barriers in a such wide variety of forms of disability.

Monitoring of Thermal Comfort and Air Quality for Sustainable Energy Management inside Hospitals Based on Online Analytical Processing and the Internet of Things

There is a need to ensure comfortable conditions for hospital staff and patients from the point of view of thermal comfort and air quality so that they do not affect their performance. We consider the need for hospital employees and patients to enjoy conditions of greater well-being during their stay. This is understood as a comfortable thermal sensation and adequate air quality, depending on the task they are performing. The contribution of this article is the formulation of the fundamentals of a system and platform for monitoring thermal comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in hospitals, based on an Internet of Things platform composed of a low-cost sensor node network that is capable of measuring critical variables such as humidity, temperature, and Carbon Dioxide (CO₂). As part of the platform, a multidimensional data model with an On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) approach is presented that offers query flexibility, data volume reduction, as well as a significant reduction in query response times. The experimental results confirm the suitability of the platform's data model, which facilitates operational and strategic decision making in complex hospitals.