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Seven Attributes of Primary Care in Thailand

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nithra_m{at}yahoo.com.

	Abstract

Primary care must be defined with a given country’s contexts because primary care services vary across countries. This study aimed to define the concept of primary care in Thailand, which had not been systematically formulated. Methods of in-depth interview, focus group discussion, and Delphi were used to derive the attributes of primary care from 66 participants, including primary care providers, community representatives, general population, and national experts. The study yielded a total of 7 attributes of primary care categorized into 3 dimensions: medical care services (accessibility, continuity, comprehensiveness, and coordination), individual and family (trust and patient-centeredness), and population and community (population and community orientation). These 7 attributes provide a conceptual framework of how primary care in Thailand should be evaluated. Results of the evaluation will offer insights on which aspects of primary care need to be improved to achieve better health care.

First published on May 14, 2009
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 2009, doi:10.1177/1010539509335500


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