Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the attitude of members of the primary health care team towards the feasibility of implementing a set of community-based activities and the obstacles expected during their implementation.
Methods: Using a self-administered questionnaire 129 general physicians, 117 nurses and 35 health inspectors working in 24 primary health care centres in the Riyadh region were included.
Results: The majority (97.2%) thought that illness prevention through immunization was an important aspect of community-based activities that could be implemented. Only 69% rated postnatal care as being feasible and 59% of the participants thought that home visits could be incorporated within the community-based activities. Pressure of work within the centre, was the biggest foreseen obstacle to implementation. While, lack of motivation ranked very low (31%), signifying a good spirit of willingness to provide. Staff of rural centres consistently exhibited better attitudes than staff in urban areas. They placed less emphasis on the serious constraints of time, incentives and resources.
Conclusion: The current situation encourages the authors to recommend initial implementation of selected community-based activities in a rural area. Furthermore, future research should be considered in the different areas of the Kingdom, for all provider groups, so that regional and intergroup differences can be detected.