Public Awareness and Perception of Family Medicine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

BackgroundFamily medicine is a specialty that provides care for family members' physical, social, and psychological aspects regardless of age, gender, and health conditions. A family physician can manage a wide range of health conditions and prevent various diseases. However, there are scarce data on the awareness and perceptions of the Saudi population regarding family medicine; therefore, we aim to determine the awareness and perception of family medicine and family physicians in the population of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. MethodologyThis cross-sectional study was conducted in Jeddah and randomly enrolled 519 participants aged 18 years and older through an online self-administered survey. Microsoft Excel and SPSS were employed for the data entry and analysis. ResultThe analysis indicated that 86.7% of the participants had heard about family physicians, 55.1% recognized the family physician's role, 61.7% had never visited one, and 57.2% were unfamiliar with the locations of family medicine clinics. ConclusionThe results of this study demonstrated that the general population of Jeddah has moderate positive responses toward the role of a family physician as a vital element in the healthcare system. However, the majority of the participants had never previously visited a family physician and were unfamiliar with the locations of family medicine clinics.

A cross-sectional study of medical students' perceptions about family medicine in Saudi Arabia

“…Family physicians here and throughout the world played an important part in providing inclusive treatment, which embraces accessible health aids either through virtual consultation or at the patient's doorstep, patient triage, counseling, health education and behavioral interventions that focus on the family to diminish stigma and nervousness. Patients seek guidance and assurance from their family physicians more than ever before (Garg et al, 2022;Alshammrani et al, 2022).…”

Association between the health vulnerability of family members and concern about the contagion of COVID‐19 in Peruvian residents after the pandemic

“…A population that has suffered at the regional level is among the most affected in the number of cases, deaths per million, and total excess of deaths 17 . Understanding these factors will allow the development of health strategies and policies that address the needs and strengths of families, promoting a healthy and resilient family environment 18 . Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the factors associated with the health vulnerability of family members in the Peruvian population after pandemic.…”