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Biomedical subjects

M H Bernhart

Publications and source records attributed to M H Bernhart.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Patient satisfaction in developing countries.

Efforts to obtain useful information on patient satisfaction in Indonesia have been frustrated by a tendency of respondents to withhold critical comment. A survey of 75 patients in eleven health centers on three islands attempted to obtain credible information on satisfaction by asking for information on events, not opinions, and on the relative importance of the factors surveyed. Unlike previous research where 95% of respondents typically answered they were 'fully satisfied', 28% of the respondents replied that their consultation had not been conducted in private (ranked first in importance among the nonmedical factors), 65% said the facility could be cleaner (ranked second in importance) and 19-48% reported not receiving various kinds of information (ranked third). Lending credence to these results, the respondents were able to support their positive answers with corroborative information in a high percentage of instances. The ranking of relative importance of satisfaction factors was unexpected. At the bottom of the list were continuity of provider, waiting time, availability of amenities, cost and social interaction with the provider. Despite the diversity among cultures that is characteristic of Indonesia, there was a high degree of similarity in the importance rankings among respondents on the three islands which were chosen to represent cultural divisions in the nation. The only notable differences in the rankings of relative importance appeared to be a function of the purpose of the visit to the facility.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Islam and family planning acceptance in Bangladesh.

One frequently cited barrier to more widespread adoption of family planning in Moslem countries is religious opposition. To examine the depth and extent of such opposition in Bangladesh, 106 men who had been identified by their wives as religiously opposed to family planning were interviewed. Unexpectedly, 26 percent of the "opposing" husbands reported that they were current users of a contraceptive and an additional 50 percent, although not practicing, said they were in favor of family planning. Of the alleged "opposers," only 23 percent said they opposed family planning on religious grounds. One-fourth of this last group were able to cite specific islamic injunctions against family planning. It appears on the basis of these data, which were collected in the religiously conservative area of Lakshimipur, that the perception of widespread Islamic-based resistance to contraception in Bangladesh is not founded in fact.

Bangladesh↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Management of community distribution programs in Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, five high- and five low-performing nongovernmental organization-supported community distribution projects were studied to determine which management, supervisory, and field activities differed between the better and poorer performers. A total of 37 variables were studied, and differences between the higher- and lower-performing projects were noted for nearly all of the variables. In general, project effectiveness was associated with higher service quality, more proactive field supervision, and greater organizational clarity. No project performed all of the 37 activities well. No one or two variables predicted project success, and none of them was found to be a necessary condition for project success. Higher performance was associated with doing well on many of these variables.

Adult↗