Monitoring health inequalities at the municipal level: Lithuanian experience
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Mesceriakova-Veliuliene, Olga
Vladickiene, Jurgita
Kalediene, Ramune
Seseikaite, Neringa
Stankunas, Mindaugas
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This study aimed to assess the attitudes of Lithuanian public health professionals towards health inequality monitoring in municipalities. The survey was conducted in public health bureaus (PHBs) and administrations of municipalities in March 2015. All employees of PHBs, all municipal doctors and all employees of health departments were invited to participate in the study (N=318; response rate, 47.2%). The study participants had positive attitudes towards the importance of health inequality monitoring at the municipal level, meanwhile systematic health inequality monitoring was assessed moderately. The majority of the interviewed professionals working at PHBs and municipalities (91.4% and 88.2%, respectively) declared that health indicators were monitored and analysed in their institutions. The respondents acknowledged the importance of routine monitoring of health indicators for assessment of inequalities, but these indicators were not monitored systematically in every municipality and PHB. Public health professionals identified the following measures for better health inequality monitoring: to strengthen intersectoral collaboration, formulate specific objectives of health programmes, promote actions in reducing health inequalities. Public health professionals working at the municipal level outlined the importance of monitoring and reducing health inequalities. However, health inequality monitoring at the municipal level was considered as insufficient.
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Open Medicine
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12
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1
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© 2017 Snieguole Kaseliene et al. published by De Gruyter Open. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
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Public health
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Medicine, General & Internal
General & Internal Medicine
Health inequalities
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Kaseliene, S; Mesceriakova-Veliuliene, O; Vladickiene, J; Kalediene, R; Seseikaite, N; Stankunas, M, Monitoring health inequalities at the municipal level: Lithuanian experience, Open Medicine, 2017, 12 (1), pp. 163-170