Cross-cultural adaptation of the Moroccan Arabic dialect version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool

OBJECTIVE

To adapt the Primary Primary Care Assessment Tool-Adult Edition into the Moroccan Arabic dialect and to assess its reliability and validity from the perspective of Moroccan adult patients.

METHOD

A committee of experts carried out the cross-cultural adaptation of the Primary Care Assessment Tool. The adapted questionnaire was subject to forward and backward translation and a pilot study. Exploratory factor analysis assessed the internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity of items and scales. Finally, descriptive statistics were performed on the final factor structure.

RESULTS

A 43-item Moroccan Arabic dialect version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool-Adult Edition was developed. It consisted of six multi-item scales that represented the four main dimensions of primary care: first contact, continuity, comprehensiveness, and coordination. Four derived dimensions were included: cultural competence, communication, advice, and community orientation. All six scales demonstrated robust internal consistency, item-total solid correlations, and construct validity. The calculated Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.78 to 0.90.

CONCLUSIONS

Comprehensive metric analyses supported the reliability and validity of the Moroccan Arabic dialect version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool-Adult Edition in assessing core primary care domains from the patients' experience. This tool could be used for future research on primary care in Morocco.

[Attend, consult, involve: do we need to redefine the concept of community engagement?]

OBJECTIVE

To describe how a sample of people working in community health promotion projects perceive and implement community engagement approaches.

METHOD

Mixed qualitative-quantitative study. Data was collected through: semi-structured interviews with 10 people representing the projects, and workshops in which 53 people participated and responded to a questionnaire prepared ad hoc to identify levels of community engagement. Descriptive statistical analysis of the questionnaires and framework analysis of the interviews, observations and workshops recordings.

RESULTS

Although the projects are described as highly participatory, community engagement appeared mainly in the form of attending events, with few examples of consultation or community involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

This difference may be due to the lack of a culture of participation, both in individuals and institutions, and lack of training in community engagement. It is proposed to change the language from participation-attendance to using expressions such as consulting or involving people.

Analysis of the impact of lockdown on the reproduction number of the SARS-Cov-2 in Spain

OBJECTIVE

The late 2019 COVID-19 outbreak has put the health systems of many countries to the limit of their capacity. The most affected European countries are, so far, Italy and Spain. In both countries (and others), the authorities decreed a lockdown, with local specificities. The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of the measures undertaken in Spain to deal with the pandemic.

METHOD

We estimated the number of cases and the impact of lockdown on the reproducibility number based on the hospitalization reports up to April 15th 2020.

RESULTS

The estimated number of cases shows a sharp increase until the lockdown, followed by a slowing down and then a decrease after full quarantine was implemented. Differences in the basic reproduction ratio are also significant, dropping from 5.89 (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 5.46-7.09) before the lockdown to 0.48 (95%CI: 0.15-1.17) afterwards.

CONCLUSIONS

Handling a pandemic like COVID-19 is complex and requires quick decision making. The large differences found in the speed of propagation of the disease show us that being able to implement interventions at the earliest stage is crucial to minimise the impact of a potential infectious threat. Our work also stresses the importance of reliable up to date epidemiological data in order to accurately assess the impact of Public Health policies on viral outbreak.