| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2018 | Volume
: 17
| Issue : 1 | Page : 52-56 |
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A profile on health-care services for old in Baghdad
Esraa Tariq1, Riyadh Lafta2
1 Ministry of Health, Directorate of Public Health, Iraq
2 Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Esraa Tariq
Ministry of Health, Directorate of Public Health
Iraq
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/MJ.MJ_13_18
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Background: The world is aging with people living longer and fewer children being born; the number of old people is increasing, and thus the aging of populations demands a comprehensive public health response. Objective: The objective of this study was to shed light on the health-care services for old people in age-friendly primary health-care centers (PHCCs) in Baghdad city in respect with its availability, accessibility, and utilization. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted in 22 age-friendly PHCCs in Baghdad. The evaluation was based on the WHO age-friendly PHCCs toolkit. The checklist comprises a list of questions related to clinical services. Results: Wheelchairs were present in 100% of the centers, 85.7% of centers in Al-Karkh and 62.5% of centers in Al-Russafa have clear emergency exits, and all the centers have essential equipment and investigations. Free services for the elderly were not present in any of the centers; the referral system was weak with no feedback. Computerized health information system was present in only quarter of the centers. Conclusion: All the age-friendly PHCCs lack a special unit for the elderly. Most of the centers do not have a suitable source of drinking water. There are some criteria that comply with the WHO instructions, but there are other essential services that should be available to improve the health services and utilization of these services. |
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