NAC/CCM Island Committee and C-Net Present Survey Review of HIV Health Care in Belize

On Saturday February 8th, the National Aids Commission Island Committee held a meeting for its members at the San Pedro High School that saw presentations from guest speaker and Executive Director of the Collaborative Network for Persons Living with HIV (C-Net) Eric Castellaños.
The presentation encompassed the results of surveys that made up the 2012 Regional Report on the Evaluation of Health Services and the Quality of Comprehensive Care for people living with HIV/AIDS. While the survey entailed statistical reports from the entire Central American region, Castellaños’ presentation primarily focused on Belize. The information gave insight on how persons living with HIV feel towards the services they receive from the various systems in Health Care System. In Belize, 818 health care patients were interviewed to determine the services of eight hospitals that were reviewed through the survey.
Of the surveys conducted only 793 were valid as 25 were deemed incomplete. The criteria was based on factors such as Personalized Treatment which referred to how comfortable the health care professional made each patient feel (was the professional introduced to the patient, did he/she know the patient by name, was the atmosphere private, was the case of each patient personalized etc), Opportunity (the time the patient has to wait before being attended to,time spent in the doctor’s office, professional’s current knowledge of topic in medicine and proper use of technology, professional’s knowledge of condition and current phase each patient is in etc), Service Satisfaction (did the patient learn about the environment and the conditions under which interventions are developed), and Resolution Capacity (was the process that the patient came for resolved, did the health care professional know how to inform the patient about his/her situation, was the patient informed of more services offered).These factors are important as they directly correlate to the life quality of each patient.
The health care centers surveyed included The Cleopatra White Clinic and Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital-KHMH (Belize City) Southern Regional Hospital (Dangriga), San Ignacio Community Hospital, Corozal Community Hospital, Northern Regional Hospital, Orange Walk Hospital and Western Regional Hospital (Belmopan). By collective results The Cleopatra White Clinic received an 68.8% in patient/patient satisfaction, KHMH- 72.7%, Southern Regional-100%, San Ignacio Community Hospital-54.7%, Corozal Community Hospital- 77.4%, Northern Regional Hospital-86.4%, Orange Walk Hospital/Clinic-73.5%, and Western Regional Hospital-66.2%. According to the patients surveyed the results show that the primary differentiating factor from each health care center was the aspect of Personalized Treatment. Southern Regional Hospital received a 100% patient satisfaction. According to patients this was because the health care professionals took the time to get to know each one of them personally, and staff was present for patient appointments. The health care center was comfortable, provided them with privacy, information on procedures, discomfort and side effects were clearly communicated, care was received as expected, wait was within reasonable time to see a professional, patient received Antiretroviral on prescribed time, prescription loads were clearly understood etc.
For more information on the results of this survey contact C-Net Belize at 630-1900. For HIV/Aids information and counseling in San Pedro Town contact the NAC/ CCM Island Committee at 650-7021. The NAC Island Committee and C-Net encourages the general public to take responsibly for their health by getting tested and using a condom every time they have sex.