A studyto determine the capabilities of rural hospitals in Sichuan Province to respond to the pandemic.

Abstract

The area of public health emergency preparation is still developing even though it has been reacting to crises for a long time. The advancement in public health preparation is frequently stagnant due to a lack of consensus on the issue and agreed-upon criteria for disaster response and readiness. In light of the existing literature, we can deduce "that it's difficult to make such improvements due to a lack of ability to objectively measure public health emergency preparedness (PHEP). This is due primarily to a lack of consensus on the definition and key elements of public health emergency preparedness".

It is the goal of this study to establish a technique for assessing public health readiness and to use that information to motivate action. This study aimed to establish and evaluate a complete assessment methodology and to create "and test a standardized index to quantify hospital PHEP" in order to generate reliable and valid preparation measures. This study utilized a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The qualitative research involves a thorough literature analysis, in-depth interviews with important experts, and a modified Delphi technique to transition to an accepted framework. As a consequence of the qualitative research, an evaluation instrument (questionnaire) was designed and used in "a cross-sectional survey of hospitals in Sichuan Province, China" for the quantitative study.