[Health care workers' expectations: what features of health centers do they value most? A qualitative and...

To identify features of health care centers valued by health care workers as positive, to group features into dimensions, and to determine their relative importance.

Qualitative phase: focus groups and content analysis. Quantitative phase: survey with a questionnaire developed from the features identified in the qualitative phase.

Primary care services in Reus and Tarragona (Catalonia, northeastern Spain).

Managers, medical care providers and admissions staff. A total of 33 workers took part in focus groups, and 136 questionnaires were distributed for the survey, with a 78.6% response rate.

Identification by focus groups of the features to be evaluated. Features were grouped into dimensions at different levels by content analysis. Survey to determine the relative importance of different features.

We identified 133 features to be evaluated by workers: 36 related with structural features of the center (architecture, staffing and equipment), 33 with organization (accessibility, team functioning), 23 with workers (knowledge and attitudes) 20 with the services provided (needs and information management, care services provided) and 21 with management. The most highly valued dimensions were workers´ attitudes and management.

Relations with patients and colleagues, and management issues, were valued most highly by workers. Some problematic features such as shared decision-making, team work and minority cultures revealed different levels of awareness and sensitivity within the health care system.