AWARENESS, PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE AMONG STUDENTS OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSION – A MIXED METHOD APPROACH

Abstract

Clinical interactions mostly consist of health care providers' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior around health and illness. A patient's lifestyle, symptom presentation, access to care, doctor-patient interactions, follow-through on medical advice and reaction to therapy are all influenced by these factors.1This study was conducted using concurrent triangulation mixed method design to gather qualitative and quantitative data concurrently in order to obtain the awareness, perspectives and attitude of students of health profession regarding key trends in the future of healthcare among students of health profession at selected institutions. 880 students were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected from the students who had participated in the Kalaignar Centenary International Medical Conference -Future of Medicine organized by Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Tamilnadu & The Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai. After obtaining consent data was collected using pretested, predetermined and validated tools which were found to be reliable. Data was coded and analyzed using appropriate descriptive and Inferential Statistics through SPSS- 20. The study findings reveal that, overall majority of participants (71.2%) had average level of awareness on trends in the future of healthcare. Among the different health care professions medicine (83.39%), dentistry (83.8%), nursing (60.5%), pharmacy (81.5%), physiotherapy (71.4%) and allied health sciences (58.9%). Regarding attitude overall majority of participants (67.7%) had positive attitude. In the areas of medicine (29.6%), (100%) in physiotherapy and nursing, (36.1%) pharmacy in allied health sciences (94.1%) had positive attitude. The percentage of the total mean scores of awareness was 54% with mean value of 5.40 +1.54. attitude score was 91 %with mean value of 54.60 +10.02. Significant correlation was found between awareness and attitude scores of students of health profession on future healthcare trends at p<0. 001. Awareness of future trends in healthcare will encourage students to engage in research and education initiatives that address emerging challenges and opportunities. Overall, fostering awareness, perception, and positive attitudes towards the future of healthcare among students of healthcare professions is essential for driving innovation, improving patient outcomes, and addressing the complex challenges facing healthcare sector..