Exploring senior managers’ experiences preparedness to respond to COVID-19: a qualitative study in Iran

BMC Health Services Research

Research

Mahmoudreza Peyravi¹  Milad Ahmadi Marzale¹  Hojatolah Najafi¹  Jalal Karimi²  Mostafa Bijani³  Mahnaz Rakhshan⁴  Zahra Kavosi⁵ 

[1] Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, Health Human Resources Center, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;Department of Infection Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Fasa University of Medical Science, Fasa, Iran;Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran;Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;Health Human Resources Center, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;

关键词: Emerging respiratory viruses;    Health system;    Preparedness;    Qualitative study;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-023-09764-2

 received in 2022-09-22, accepted in 2023-06-29,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEpidemics caused by emerging respiratory viruses are challenging for the health system of most societies, and preparedness of the health system in responding to such epidemics is important. Therefore, the aim of this study was identifying different fields and key issues of the senior managers’ experiences preparedness to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic from the Iranian senior managers’ point of view.MethodsThis is a qualitative descriptive study. Eighteen in-depth and semi-structured individual interviews were conducted for data collection. For this purpose, 18 senior managers with work experience in managing the COVID-19 crisis were enrolled in the study using purposive sampling. The collected data were analyzed according to Graneheim and Lundman’s approach.ResultsAnalysis of the data resulted in the emergence of five themes and twelve sub-themes. The main themes and sub-themes included: (1) capacity improvement consisting of performance improvement and logistic improvement; (2) resource and infrastructure management including supply and support of human resources, infrastructure improvement, and supply of equipment; (3) an increase in epidemiology capacity including epidemiology improvement and emerging disease surveillance; (4) application of the principles of disaster and emergency management including intra- and extra-organizational interaction management, disaster risk management, and data management; and (5) society resilience increase including improving adaptation skill and maintaining health and social participation.ConclusionThe results of this study present the key issues for the management of future emergency situations. Health system managers and policymakers in Iran and other countries should be aware of these key issues and apply them in practice to prepare the health systems to respond to next outbreaks. Indeed, the study results can help policymakers and health system managers to plan to achieve acceptable preparedness for the management of such outbreaks.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023