Health Impact Assessment of the Shahid Rajaie Plan Among Older Adults in Piranshahar City. West Azarbaijan

Abstract

Health Impact Assessment of the Shahid Rajaie Plan Among Older Adults in Piranshahar City. West Azarbaijan

Abstract Introduction: In 1985, the Shahid Rajaie Programme was implemented in rural areas of Iran. The aim of this study was to explore the impacts of the Shahid Rajaie Programme on the ageing health of residents of rural Piranshahr, in west Azarbaijan, and also to recommend strategies to improve and increase the possible positive impacts of this plan on the ageing population. Method: In 2021, a study with a concurrent mixed method approach, including two stages of quantitative and qualitative analysis, was designed to assess the impacts of the Shahid Rajaie Programme on the ageing health of residents of rural Piranshahr. The quantitative stage included two phases: first, the examination of integrated care indicators for the elderly in two groups covered or not covered (C/NC) by the Shahid Rajaei plan; second, the second phase of a descriptive-analytical study. 408 elderly people 60 years old and older covered or not covered by the Imam Khomeini relief committee living in the villages of Piranshahr participated in this study. SPSS version 21 was used for quantitative analyses. The qualitative stage included a content analysis study that included semi-structured interviews with six key informants and 14 service recipients. Studies were conducted simultaneously. MAXQDA10 software was used for qualitative study analysis. The data were merged in the interpretation phase. Result: Participants aged between 60-100 years, with average age of 68.05. Most of the subjects were women (58%), had at least one chronic disease (69.28%), and the income of more than half of the participants was less than one million Tomans per month. The findings of the quantitative part of the study showed that there is a significant difference in the trend of some indicators such as blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and anxiety among the C/NC groups of the Shahid Rajaei plan (P 0.001), so that for each year, The number of infected people is higher in the NC group. Also, there is no significant difference between the two groups C by the relief committee and those NC by the relief committee (p > 0.05) in the indicators of daily life activity and social well-being. On other indicators, there is a significant difference between the two groups C by the relief committee and those NC by the relief committee. (P<0.001). Thus, the perceived social support in the NC group was higher than in the C group. The NC group had better general health, but the C group had higher quality of life and social health. Conclution: Shahid Rajaei's plan has had some positive effects on the health of the elderly. However, some of the limitations and weaknesses of the plan's services, such as the elderly being deprived of specialised services and the lack of uniform provision of services, have caused the programme to not be able to play its role in promoting health as it should. The findings of the research showed that the health of the elderly and the improvement of health indicators, in addition to the health system, are largely dependent on other economic and social factors. Therefore, it can be concluded that improving the living conditions of the elderly and trying to increase public welfare is an important step towards achieving the goals of the Shahid Rajaei plan. Key words: Health Impact Assessment, quality of life, social support