Journal of Biomedical Advancement Scientific Research

Abstract

Dengue is a disease that plagues the Philippines, and the experiences of dengue patients and healthcare workers in public hospitals in Rizal in response to the rising dengue cases remain to be further investigated. This study seeks to gather information through interviews with healthcare professionals and dengue patients from public hospitals in Rizal, Philippines to interpret and consider their experiences to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of treating dengue cases. A qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews of three dengue patients and three healthcare workers obtained through snowball sampling. A thematic analysis was used to synthesize the data. It was found that patients had experiences with problems due to understaffing, difficult accommodations, and the lasting effects of the disease on their mental and physical health. Healthcare workers were shown to suffer from severe workload due to the high number of patients, difficulties communicating with patients, and insufficient facilities. This sheds light on the experiences of each group and the aspects of healthcare in public hospitals of Rizal that may be improved, such as budget allocation, creating more tertiary hospitals, improving work conditions of healthcare professionals, more efficient healthcare systems, and more. This aligns with the theoretical framework, showing the relationship between systemic availability and individual capability which negatively affect a patient’s and a healthcare worker’s journey.