Structures and Practices in Clinical Preventive Services

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Introduction: The aim of this study is to determine the most important risk factors for commonly preventable diseases, counseling and education required for the Iranian community. Methods: This qualitative study was carried out in several stages. First, based on a resource overview, a questionnaire was designed and a semi-structured interview was carried out with a number of stakeholders, until data saturation. The interviews were analyzed by content analysis method and the results were subdivided into main groups and subgroups. Then, to determine the most important and priority groups and subgroups, a questionnaire was designed and in terms of triple criteria, significance, scientific acceptability and feasibility were evaluated. In the third stage, using the results from the second stage of the research, the initial structure of the preventive and health promotion clinics was designed and finalized in two Delphi rounds. Results: The main groups of the structure of the prevention services provider included levels of service delivery, information resources, financial resources, human resources, information, and follow-up. The subgroups included: First level: patient visit by nurse or health expert; Second level visit by nutrition expert; Third level visit by mental health expert; Fourth level: Medical services of prevention and health promotion; Fifth level referral to social worker; Sixth level specialized and super specialized clinical services, and others groups included: information resources based on the use of existing country guidelines or the use of guidelines and their localization, funding using state resources, research grants, human resources required including nurse or health expert, nutrition expert, psychologist, physician, social worker, setting up prevention site, using the brochure while waiting, using health volunteers, using media, pamphlets, posters, billboards - using journals and articles and finally using a reminder card and follow-up telephoning for patients. Conclusion: Establishment of preventive and health promotion clinics is an integral part of health services providers' structures and requires new research to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in these centers.