Enhancing satisfaction and respect for health care personnel: a mixed-methods case study of a community-based intervention

Health care personnel (HCP) face violence as a result of lack of satisfaction and respect among community members. It is imperative for HCP to engage in social work by involving communities for enhancing satisfaction and respect for them. This study attempted to provide insight on this phenomenon by using a mixed-methods concurrent embedded approach. Communities were selected based on modified Solomon four-group design from Karachi in southern province and from three cities of northern province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews took place for formulating the quantitative tool. Six hundred pretests were done prior to introducing low-cost community-based interventions followed by 601 posttests. We found increased levels of satisfaction in both provinces, whereas level of respect increased significantly in Karachi in the southern province only. Qualitative interviews revealed the important role played by media and religious leaders. These findings suggest that satisfaction and respect for HCP can be enhanced through community support, involvement of religious leaders, and effective media campaigns.