Analysis of the opinions of medical workers about the activities of public movements in the field of protection and promotion of public health

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Currently, public associations have become an effective tool for involving civil society to solve socially significant problems. They can support the government in achieving priority public health goals. However, in modern conditions of the development of civil society, when providing government support measures, non-profit organizations face barriers that impede the implementation of their tasks, which determines the need to formulate proposals for improving their activities. AIM: To study the attitude of medical workers to public movements in the field of protecting and promoting the health of the population in the Russian Federation, to identify current problems in the implementation of their activities, to determine priority areas of work, to form recommendations for the development of public associations to improve the efficiency of the healthcare system. METHODS: The sociological study has been carried out by the questionnaire method based on the public movement «NATIONAL FRONT «FOR RUSSIA» in which 24,907 medical workers from 85 subjects of the Russian Federation took part. RESULTS: Insufficient awareness of medical workers about the activities of public movements in the field of public health and healthcare in the Russian Federation was revealed (25.5% of respondents know nothing about such movements), about half (43.4%) believe that their activities have a positive impact on development healthcare, one-third of the respondents (34.9%) approve of their activities. About half (46.3%) noted that the greatest contribution to healthcare should be made by the state together with public movements, while it is necessary to enhance the control of citizens and their associations over the performance of their duties by authorities (39.5%). CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of public associations and their development depends on political, economic, and social factors. To increase the role of public associations in the field of health protection and promotion, more active participation of citizens in their activities is required. To do this, it is necessary to increase public awareness about the main activities of public associations, legislatively expand their powers, increase government support, etc.