SACM - Australia
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9648
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Item Restricted i Exploring Preparedness and Adaptive Capacity for Disaster Management during Hajj in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia(University of Tasmania, 2025) Althagafi, Ibrahim; Lindsay Smith, Dale Edward , Pieter Van DamAlthough the number of deaths from natural disasters has decreased over the years due to factors such as early warning systems and risk reduction, the losses from such disasters have not reduced and are still unequal across different regions. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is particularly vulnerable to natural and human made disasters, and faces additional risks related to the Hajj, one of the largest religious events in the world. This event is very important in the Islamic faith and millions of people attend it every year, increasing the chances of crowd-related disasters, health complications, and the pressure on the health care systems. Hajj as a mass gathering event with participants from different parts of the world presents numerous public health issues such as infectious diseases transmission and care of the chronically ill in the context of physical and environmental stressors of the pilgrimage. These dynamics call for proper disaster management measures that are suitable for religious mass gatherings given that such events are frequent in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study is to examine disaster preparedness and adaptive capacity during Hajj in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia, and to assess the strategies and the knowledge, skills, and preparedness of the healthcare providers for disaster management. It outlines the organisational and contextual factors that determine preparedness and looks at how the sociodemographic factors influence the preparedness of the healthcare providers, administrators and the pilgrims. The bioecological theory of human development underpins the study, integrating the Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model's dimensions of individual characteristics (person), dynamic strategies (process), sociocultural and organisational environments (context), and time factors (time). It will explore the roles and interactions of these elements that help formulate a disaster resilience framework addressing the specific needs of similar large-scale religious gatherings. Employing a mixed-methods case study approach design this study integrates quantitative data from a survey of 161 healthcare providers with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews of six healthcare providers, five health administrators, and five pilgrims/community members. This data is analysed using SPSS and NVivo software. The results reveal varying knowledge, skills, confidence, and implementation strategies. In terms of knowledge, which included understanding disaster, familiarity with disaster preparedness procedures, and management, 45.3% of participants demonstrated a high level of understanding. Skills, assessed through technical skills, soft skills, and experience in mass gatherings, revealed that 44.1% of healthcare providers possessed high disaster management skills. Confidence in disaster preparedness was notably high, with 54.4% of providers expressing strong confidence in managing disasters during Hajj. Implementation, which encompassed viii viii infrastructure readiness, healthcare facilities and resources, emergency response and coordination, risk assessment and mitigation, and monitoring and evaluation, saw 55% of providers displaying a high level of knowledge in implementing disaster preparedness measures. Challenges identified included language barriers, conflicting stakeholder roles, logistical issues, staff shortages, and extreme heat. However, opportunities for gaining disaster management skills, leadership experience, practical training application, and improved team collaboration enhanced overall preparedness and resilience. The religious aspect of Hajj preparation significantly motivated healthcare providers, many of whom view their work as a form of worship and charity, seeking spiritual rewards through their service. Applying the PPCT model to Hajj disaster preparedness highlighted the roles of individual characteristics, continuous learning, unique ecological challenges, and historical factors, underscoring a comprehensive approach to disaster preparedness. Additionally, insights from the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) 2022 conference resonated with the study's findings, emphasising the need for a holistic approach to building resilience. This connection emphasizes the need to integrate the global approaches and best practices in disaster risk reduction into the Hajj context. However, there are some areas of knowledge and skills that needed further development; suggesting the need for enhanced training, better coordination between agencies, and a more holistic approach to disaster management in terms of individual and organizational resilience. The study recommends that there should be better training in crowd control, disaster management and cultural sensitivity for the healthcare workers. It underlines the importance of improving the healthcare system in Makkah City and cooperation between different agencies; including the command center and integrated health strategies. Measures that include awareness campaigns for pilgrims, disaster preparedness through early warning systems, emergency plans and drills are also emphasized. Additionally, the study recommends the use of technology in the delivery of healthcare services such as electronic health records and telemedicine; and the alignment of strategies with the PPCT model which includes person-centered training, process improvement, contextualization, and time-sensitive planning and evaluation.20 0Item Restricted Life journey with a chronic illness: Exploring the lived experience of older chronic illness patients while interacting with the primary health care services in Ha'il City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(University of Tasmania, 2025) Albarrak, Talal; Crisp, Elaine; Andrews, Sharon; Foran, PaulaAccording to the World Health Organization, improvement in life expectancy, which is attributed to advancements made in the health sector in the 20th century, directly impacts public health and economic systems. Technological advancement in the health sector has enabled older people to perform many activities in their daily lives. However, this demographic shift has also posed some problems, such as the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and the increased costs of healthcare for families and governments. The older population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is mainly affected by chronic diseases. It burdens the healthcare system, especially in the Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs). PHCCs are the first point of care for these patients and attend to more than 15 million citizens every year in KSA. Although primary, secondary, tertiary, and referral healthcare services are available for the public in KSA, PHCCs still need help with patient satisfaction due to the lack of proper infrastructure and integrated services. This qualitative research employs Max van Manen's hermeneutical phenomenological framework to understand the lived experiences of older people with chronic illness as they interact with PHCCs for their regular health care relating to their illness. The research design is iterative, allowing for dynamic interaction between the researcher and data through six sequential yet iterative steps: engaging with the phenomenon, collecting data through investigating life experiences, reflecting on essential themes, describing the phenomenon through writing and rewriting, maintaining a strong relation to the phenomenon, and balancing the study context. Data was collected via semi-structured telephone interviews, adapted for COVID-19 safety protocols, with older people selected from accessible and representative PHCCs. Ten participants were chosen using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure relevance and depth. The research blends the strengths of descriptive and interpretative phenomenology, rooted in Edmund Husserl's and Martin Heidegger's philosophical traditions, which emphasise the detailed description and interpretation of human experiences and meanings, and recognise these experiences as situated within specific historical and cultural contexts. The analysis involved identifying and interpreting key themes from the participants' stories and comparing and contrasting these across different participant narratives to reveal patterns and variations. The researcher engaged in a reflective process, linking the findings to existing literature and theoretical frameworks to deepen the understanding of the participant's lived experiences. Critical reflexivity was emphasised to ensure researcher biases did not influence the study's findings. Four major themes emerged: the impact of knowing about the illness; the supportive context provided by family, friends, institutions, and faith; the adaptation to a new life with a chronic disease and multiple care roles; and perceptions of care received through primary health care centres. The research findings highlighted the interplay between emotional, cognitive, and social elements of the patients’ lived experience, emphasising the significant role of the participants' emotional responses in influencing coping mechanisms and overall quality of life. The research also explored the crucial role of family/friends in disease management, and the difficulties of financial issues. The findings also highlighted the need for a more comprehensive and patient-centred approach to healthcare in KSA, which includes considering the experiences and barriers faced by older adults with chronic diseases. These findings included identifying the treatment goals, the use of religion in the process of coping, especially among Muslim adults, and the significance of education in helping patients manage their treatment and psychological care. The following are the recommendations that can be made from the research for enhancing services in the PHCCs across SaudiArabia, focusing on early identification and management of chronic diseases. The research supports screening programs for high-risk groups, frequent follow-up, and adherence to the best practices, including the involvement of specialist physicians. A particular emphasis is placed on the patient's awareness and counselling to overcome the myths associated with chronic diseases and increase patient participation in decision-making. The study recommends forming peer support groups to support chronic disease management or strengthening community networks. The research also advocates for public health campaigns that should address all population groups, focus on chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus, to overcome cultural and societal misconceptions. To meet mental health needs, it is essential to incorporate mental health care into chronic disease management and educate healthcare workers on mental health. Other recommendations that are likely to improve the quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction significantly, include improving the interpersonal skills of PHCC staff, embracing modern technology, and ensuring that vulnerable populations are financially supported14 0Item Restricted Life journey with a chronic illness: Exploring the lived experience of older chronic illness patients while interacting with the primary health care services in Ha'il City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(University of Tasmania, 2024-08) Albarrak, Talal; Paula, Foran; Elaine, Crisp; Sharon, AndrewsAccording to the World Health Organization, improvement in life expectancy, which is attributed to advancements made in the health sector in the 20th century, directly impacts public health and economic systems. Technological advancement in the health sector has enabled older people to perform many activities in their daily lives. However, this demographic shift has also posed some problems, such as the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and the increased costs of healthcare for families and governments. The older population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is mainly affected by chronic diseases. It burdens the healthcare system, especially in the Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs). PHCCs are the first point of care for these patients and attend to more than 15 million citizens every year in KSA. Although primary, secondary, tertiary, and referral healthcare services are available for the public in KSA, PHCCs still need help with patient satisfaction due to the lack of proper infrastructure and integrated services. This qualitative research employs Max van Manen's hermeneutical phenomenological framework to understand the lived experiences of older people with chronic illness as they interact with PHCCs for their regular health care relating to their illness. The research design is iterative, allowing for dynamic interaction between the researcher and data through six sequential yet iterative steps: engaging with the phenomenon, collecting data through investigating life experiences, reflecting on essential themes, describing the phenomenon through writing and rewriting, maintaining a strong relation to the phenomenon, and balancing the study context. Data was collected via semi-structured telephone interviews, adapted for COVID-19 safety protocols, with older people selected from accessible and representative PHCCs. Ten participants were chosen using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure relevance and depth. The research blends the strengths of descriptive and interpretative phenomenology, rooted in Edmund Husserl's and Martin Heidegger's philosophical traditions, which emphasise the detailed description and interpretation of human experiences and meanings, and recognise these experiences as situated within specific historical and cultural contexts. The analysis involved identifying and interpreting key themes from the participants' stories and comparing and contrasting these across different participant narratives to reveal patterns and variations. The researcher engaged in a reflective process, linking the findings to existing literature and theoretical frameworks to deepen the understanding of the participant's lived experiences. Critical reflexivity was emphasised to ensure researcher biases did not influence the study's findings. Four major themes emerged: the impact of knowing about the illness; the supportive context provided by family, friends, institutions, and faith; the adaptation to a new life with a chronic disease and multiple care roles; and perceptions of care received through primary health care centres. The research findings highlighted the interplay between emotional, cognitive, and social elements of the patients’ lived experience, emphasising the significant role of the participants' emotional responses in influencing coping mechanisms and overall quality of life. The research also explored the crucial role of family/friends in disease management, and the difficulties of financial issues. The findings also highlighted the need for a more comprehensive and patient-centred approach to healthcare in KSA, which includes considering the experiences and barriers faced by older adults with chronic diseases. These findings included identifying the treatment goals, the use of religion in the process of coping, especially among Muslim adults, and the significance of education in helping patients manage their treatment and psychological care. The following are the recommendations that can be made from the research for enhancing services in the PHCCs across SaudiArabia, focusing on early identification and management of chronic diseases. The research supports screening programs for high-risk groups, frequent follow-up, and adherence to the best practices, including the involvement of specialist physicians. A particular emphasis is placed on the patient's awareness and counselling to overcome the myths associated with chronic diseases and increase patient participation in decision-making. The study recommends forming peer support groups to support chronic disease management or strengthening community networks. The research also advocates for public health campaigns that should address all population groups, focus on chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus, to overcome cultural and societal misconceptions. To meet mental health needs, it is essential to incorporate mental health care into chronic disease management and educate healthcare workers on mental health. Other recommendations that are likely to improve the quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction significantly, include improving the interpersonal skills of PHCC staff, embracing modern technology, and ensuring that vulnerable populations are financially supported.76 0Item Restricted Nurses’ Safety Attitudes and their impact on Nursing-Sensitive Patient Outcomes(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-10-09) Alanazi, Faisal Khalaf; Sim, Jenny; Lapkin, Samuel; Molloy, LukeBackground: Nurses represent the largest proportion of healthcare workers and are in close contact with patients. Each nurse has a unique set of attitudes towards their duties and roles. Understanding nurses’ attitudes towards safety allows organisations to identify individual practices and behaviours that may have an impact on patient outcomes. Nursing-sensitive patient outcomes, such as patient falls and pressure injuries, significantly impact patients and healthcare organisations. Therefore, nursing unit characteristics, such as safety attitudes, quality of care, missed care, and staffing levels, might improve patient outcomes. To date, evidence on the association between these characteristics and nursing-sensitive patient outcomes, using empirical patient data, is limited and inconsistent. Aim: The aim of this project was to examine the impact of nurses’ attitudes towards safety, quality of care, missed care and staffing levels, on four nursing-sensitive patient outcomes, collected from two sources of data in five acute Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The four nursing-sensitive patient outcomes included patient falls, pressure injuries, healthcare-associated infections, and inpatient mortality. The project also explored the relationship between nursing-sensitive patient outcomes using two data sources, namely, nurses’ perceptions of the frequency of adverse patient outcomes in their units reported in a cross-sectional survey, and the incidence of nursing-sensitive patient outcomes reported in administrative data. Methods: A multi-site multi-source, cross-sectional project was conducted. The data were collected from 35 nursing units in five acute hospitals in two regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In phase one, an online nurse survey gathered a comprehensive range of data, including the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), quality of care, missed care, nurse staffing levels, and nurses’ perceptions of the frequency of adverse patient outcomes. In phase two, secondary administrative datasets on patient falls, pressure injuries, healthcare-associated infections, and inpatient mortality for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 were analysed for each participating hospital. Data from phases one and two were merged in phase three to address the project’s aim. A variety of descriptive analyses were performed, and inferential statistics, including logistic regression and Generalized Linear Models (GLM), were fitted to examine the association between project variables. Results: The SAQ mean score was 61.48 (SD = 12.9), suggesting that nurses had less than positive attitudes towards safety. The highest mean score was in safety behaviour (Mean = 66.25, SD = 18.6), and the lowest mean score was in working conditions (Mean = 52.2, SD = 21.4). Most nurses (n = 444, 72%) reported that at least 1 of the 13 nursing care activities had been missed on their last shift due to lack of time to complete it. The most frequently missed activity by nurses was comfort/talk with patients (n = 246, 37.7%). The average patient-to-nurse ratio was highest in surgical units (Mean = 5.87, SD = 0.88) and lowest in critical care units (Mean = 1.95, SD = 0.40). However, the results indicated that a strong overall safety culture score, safety behaviour (collaborations between nurses, physicians and pharmacists), safety climate (attitude towards organisation commitment to safety), and job satisfaction (attitudes towards work experience) were significantly associated with better nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. Similarly, higher hospital quality of care and lower missed care were associated with decreased adverse nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. Higher patient numbers per nurse were positively associated with higher incidence of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and nurses’ perceptions of the frequency of adverse patient outcomes. In addition, nurses’ perceptions of the frequency of adverse patient outcomes were associated positively with higher incidence rates of nursing-sensitive patient outcomes reported in administrative datasets. Conclusion: This project investigated the characteristics of nursing units and their impact on four nursing-sensitive patient outcomes in five acute hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The project highlighted the importance of promoting a positive safety culture, improving the quality of care in nursing units, reducing missed care, and providing adequate staffing levels to enhance better patient outcomes. In addition, nurses’ perceptions of the frequency of adverse patient outcomes were reflective of the actual incidence rates of nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. Therefore, understanding nurses’ perceptions of adverse patient outcomes and addressing their concerns can be crucial in improving patient outcomes and promoting a positive safety culture in nursing units.44 0Item Restricted Perception of Nurse Leaders on Factors Affecting Nursing Shortage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An interpretive and Qualitative Study(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-07-21) Alsaif, Turki; Jed, DuffBackground: The nursing shortage in Saudi Arabia has resulted in many disparities in the quality of care nationwide. In addressing this shortage, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the current nursing workforce and determine the areas of focus for planning performance development, to meet the population’s healthcare needs. Objectives: This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of how nursing leaders perceive the impact of nursing shortages in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Furthermore, it sought to explore the challenges nurses face, identify the causes of current nursing workforce shortages, and examine the contextual factors contributing to it. Methods: The study used a qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with nursing leaders in KSA. In this qualitative study, whether online or face-to-face, nurse leaders were interviewed to assess their perception of factors that affect the nursing shortage in Saudi Arabia. A total of 13 nurse leaders participated in this study using semi-structured interviews. This interpretive descriptive study searched the experience and perception of nurse leaders who have experienced as a nursing leader more than five years. The data was analysed using thematic (inductive and deductive) analysis. Results: The findings are three main themes analysed from the 13 interviews with nursing leaders in KSA: nursing workforce entry, nursing workforce challenges, and workforce exit. Every central theme has sub-themes. The first theme is nursing workforce entry, which includes two sub-themes: recruitment plan and education. The second central theme is nursing workforce challenges, and it has five sub-themes: absenteeism, work condition, culture, financial support, and skilled staff. The final central theme is exiting the nursing workforce, and it has four main sub-themes: migration, resignation, career change, and retirement. Conclusion: This study shows the impact of nursing shortages. The repercussions on their performance were addressed in broad themes and sub-themes. The nurse leaders’ experiences have added a deep understanding of the nursing shortage’s causes and challenges. Moreover, it highlighted the policies that may affect the nursing workforce's current situation.101 0