Sarah Rumayh Al-Rumayh
Family Medicine Senior Registrar, AlHaithem PHC, Riyadh
Dana Ayed Al-Rahmani
Senior Registrar of Family Medicine, King Fahad General Hospital, Al-Safa 1 PHC, Jeddah
Layan Khalid Arafah
Senior Registrar of Family Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah
Anfal Nayir Al-Anzi
Senior Registrar of Family Medicine, Alrabwa PHC, 'Ar'ar
Abeer Bakheet Al-Otaibi
Family Medicine Senior Registrar, Sulaymaniyah PHC, Tabuk
ABSTRACT
Women’s health plays an important role of primary health care, however, inclusion in family medicine remains limited day today’s health system, education and policies. This thesis explores implications of providing complete women’s health services in primary care setting and using gender-sensitive, patient-centered model of care. The study was cross-sectional employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches to conduct needs assessment to identify existing shortcomings in medical training, scarcity of service provisions in specialty areas, capped by restricted policy agenda that hampers gender-sensitive healthcare provision. Published findings stress ideas of collaboration between professionals of different fields, the enlargement of the health curriculum to incorporate knowledge on the unique concerns of female and males respectively, and structural changes aimed at increasing the accessibility of care for those in need. Policy in form of curriculum changes, additional preventive care services, and other policies are suggested to address the incorporation of women’s health in to the field of family medicine. Specifically, through implementing the FMG approach, significant improvement in relation to patient care, elimination of the gender gap in primary care at the practice level, and thus effective FS and overall primary care systems are revealed. In this way, this work adds to the discussion of the reforms that can be aimed at enhancing the equity in healthcare provision and emphasizes the importance of family medicine to meet specific female’s needs.
Keywords: Integrating, Women’s Health, Primary Care, Strategies, Enhancing, Family Medicine, Practices.
