Institutionalising community health programmes into the Palestinian health-care system: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background Community health is a field of public health and one of the important pillars of the health system that addresses health protection, promotion, and preservation. The occupied Palestinian territory is a fragile setting with an unstable health system that hardly functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of community health programmes and to generate useful suggestions for system strengthening. Methods The study was done in the Gaza Strip in 2014, using a descriptive analytical and qualitative approach that involved a review of literature and reports and a structured, open-ended survey. The survey was developed by expert consultation and involved ten experts selected from five sectors (the ministry of health, academia, and private, local, and international non-governmental organisations). Data were analysed in Excel and with the coding and thematic analysis technique.