THE QUALITY OF HOME HEALTHCARE SERVICE IN RIYADH/SAUDI ARABIA

Background: Home healthcare services are expanding in Saudi Arabia at a rapid pace in order to meet the need of growing population of older adult and those with chronic illnesses and the quality of this service is various from hospital to another. Aim: The aim of this research is to measure the quality of home healthcare services in five hospitals in Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Method: a Cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire of 74 home healthcare services members. The questionnaire developed by the researchers through modifying another international instrument for the same purpose. Results: 86.5% of home health care members stated that the provided home health care service is an effective service that provides a noticeable improvement of patient's condition. (71.6% and 35.1%, respectively) agreed that the acceptance criteria of patients in HHC is sufficient and comprehensive and these criteria need to be reviewed and modified. Conclusion: Hospital managers should focus on advocating measuring of home health care quality continuously and ensuring the home health care members have a training before they start working in home health care furthermore, giving attention to patients' complaints.