A Qualitative Assessment of People-Centeredness of Inpatient Tuberculosis Treatment Services in Armenia

Background: People-centered tuberculosis (TB) care promotes treatment adherence and outcomes. TB patients’ and families’ health education and protection of their rights are among the core components of people-centered care. We aimed to assess the level of people-centeredness of TB care as a proxy to quality in the largest inpatient unit of the National Pulmonology Center (NPC) in Armenia. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study by interviewing clinical and administrative staff, TB patients, and family members to learn their experiences about patient and family education and rights (PFE&R) protection practices focusing on two Joint Commission International (JCI) Standards for Hospital Accreditation. Mixed-conventional inductive and directed deductive content approach guided the analysis of data. Results: The study revealed various gaps in the provided services. According to the TB physicians and nurses, they routinely educated patients and families and took actions to protect their rights. However, practices reported by TB providers varied across clinical departments and professionals and did not meet the recommendations of the JCI standards. The document review revealed that no written policies or procedures existed in the NPC inpatient unit to guide the implementation of PFE&R. Lastly, patients’ inconsistent experiences were also indicative of the lack of standardization and issues with PFE&R implementation. Conclusion: Bridging the gap between existing and recommended practices by establishing and enforcing new people-centered policies and procedures is a pledge for improving operations and patients’ experiences with a potential nationwide impact in Armenia.