Patients’ views on health promotion and disease prevention services provided by healthcare workers in a South African tertiary hospital

BACKGROUND: Patients’ views and experiences in healthcare institutions provide a means of assessing the quality of services patients receive from healthcare workers (HCWs). However, the views of patients on the health promotion (HP) and disease prevention (DP) services offered by HCWs and the delivery mode have not been adequately studied. AIM: This study assessed the views of patients on HP and DP services provided by various categories of HCWs. SETTING: The study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, South Africa. METHOD: An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted among 500 patients. The questionnaire elicited responses from patients regarding the HP and DP services received from the different cadres of HCWs at three different admission phases: pre-admission phase (PAP), admission phase (ADP), and post-admission phase (POP). Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analysis was conducted. RESULTS: In the PAP, most patients (83.33%, n = 5; 87.85%, n = 217; and 76.14%, n = 150) seen by the rehabilitation health workers, medical doctors, and nurses respectively were empowered to manage their health. Patients attended to by nurses were 0.45 (95% CI 0.27–0.74) times less likely than those attended to by medical doctors to receive information that that will help them address the physical and environmental needs. In the ADP, patients attended to by nurses were less likely, compared to those attended to by medical doctors to be empowered to have good control over their health. In the POP, patients attended to by nurses are more likely to have their health behaviours change for better compared to those not seen by any HCW. CONCLUSION: Patients attending tertiary hospital received greater HP and DP services during the PAP and ADP of patient care. Greatest influence for behavioural change of patients on HP and DP were achieved from the medical doctors, nurses and rehabilitation service staff. Improving structural factors may prove beneficial in enhancing patients’ experience from all HCW groups and phases of patient care.