| Abstract [eng] |
Children are one of the mostly vulnerable groups therefore their health is considered to be one of the priorities of the health policy. The aim of the study is to characterize the status of pre-hospital pediatric healthcare services in emergency departments (EDs), service utilization determinants and directions for optimizing. Analyzing the Nacional Health Insurance information system's data of long-term ambulatory service utilization in EDs for children, the demographic and regional differences in consumption, analyzing the specifics of children's healthcare in the EDs factors which influenced the parents to go to the hospital's ED on children's health conditions not requiring hospital treatment and evaluation of triage scales for children were done for the first time in Lithuania. Andersen's Behavioural Model of Health Service Utilization was applied in this thesis. The results and recommendation described in this thesis will provide basis for further scientific research in the pre-hospital children's healthcare field, and will provide the health politicians knowledge about the availability of medical services and quality of primary and first contact care in organizing children's healthcare and will help to better understand the parent's needs when bringing children in the EDs. |
