Demand for Service Ability Training of Staff in Community Health Service Demonstration Centers in Guangdong Province

Objective: To investigate the demand for service ability training of staff in community health service demonstration centers in Guangdong Province, in order to further improve the training scheme for service ability in community health service centers. Methods: A self-designed questionnaire was used among 24 community health service demonstration centers at the national level and 48 community health service demonstration centers at the provincial level in Guangdong Province from June to December of the year 2014. The questionnaire included the demand for service ability training in terms of training contents, training time, training methods and training forms for staff in community health service demonstration centers. A total of 72 questionnaires were distributed and all of them were retrieved validly. The effective recovery rate was 100.0%. Results: As for the training contents, 70 (97.2%) managers of community health service demonstration centers showed a desire for the management and technology training of community health service, and 62 (86.1%) managers had a need for the concept training of general practice and community health service. In addition, 71 (98.6%) service teams of community health service demonstration centers thought they needed the training of interpersonal skills and teamwork skills, and 62 (86.1%) service teams needed the management and technology training of community health service. As for the training time, 36 (50.0%) managers considered that the training time should be 2 teaching days and 3 practice days while the rest 36 (50.0%) managers preferred 3 teaching days and 2 practice days. In addition, 37 (51.4%) service teams considered that the training time should be 20 teaching days and 10 practice days. In terms of training methods, staff from 30 (41.7%) community health service demonstration centers considered that off the job training was more appropriate, and in terms of training forms, staff from 58 (80.6%) community health service demonstration centers considered that case studies were more appropriate. There were no statistically significant differences in the demand for service ability training in terms of training contents, training time, training methods and training forms among managers, service teams and another seven kinds of health personnel at the national level and provincial level (P>0.05). Conclusion: There is a huge demand for training of community health service knowledge and skills in community health service demonstration centers in Guangdong Province. And no difference was found in the demand for service ability training between community health service demonstration centers at national level and provincial level. Effective training programs should be tailored to the training needs of different health personnel in Guangdong Province to improve the community health service ability.