In January 2024, the Kharkiv Institute for Social Research conducted a survey at Velykoburlutska village community of the Kharkiv region.
Conclusions
Residents of the Velykoburlutska community encounter the field of health care quite often in their lives. Only in the last year, 46% of the residents of the community applied for medical assistance. At least once a year, the majority (64%) visit a specialist. Most community residents (87%) have signed declarations with family doctors.
The main problems with which people visit medical institutions are heart disease, dental disease, diabetes, and strokes. Quite often, community residents apply to doctors for psycho-emotional conditions (PTSD, panic attacks, etc.). People either face these problems on their own experience, or notice a significant prevalence of these problems in their environment. If you have to name one of the most common health problems, it is by far heart disease.
However, community residents are not always satisfied with the quality of medical services in general. Respondents often defined the level of satisfaction with the medical care provided to them by family doctors as quite average. The majority of community residents do not see any improvement in the quality of medical care over the past year, almost a third of community residents believe that the quality of medical care has deteriorated.
According to the respondents, various settlements of the community lack medical facilities. The situation is comparatively better in the administrative center of the community — Velykiy Burluk, the worst — in remote villages. In the presence of complications with the movement of public transport and in some places the poor condition of the roads, this to some extent limits access to receiving medical care. Other significant barriers to receiving medical care are the lack of medical personnel, in particular narrow specialists, the unavailability of certain examinations due to the lack of the necessary equipment, lack of funds for the purchase of medicines, examinations, and travel to a medical institution. Undoubtedly, the main barrier is the difficult security situation in the community due to constant shelling and bombing. The most discriminated population groups that do not receive all the necessary medical care are primarily the elderly, people with disabilities, and the poor.
Velykoburlutska community, along with the entire country, is going through difficult times. The war greatly complicates the provision of medical care to people, in particular due to the damage and destruction of medical facilities. Respondents experience a general deterioration in the health of people around them and note a deterioration in their ability to receive medical care. And therefore, the medical sphere of the Velykoburlutska community needs comprehensive support for the systematic improvement of public health indicators.
