Information Therapy Services in Educational Hospitals: a Feasibility Study in Educational Hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Information therapy is a process which informs patients and plays a complementary role in the process of therapy. It can enhance public health information literacy, thereby decreasing the health costs. This study evaluates the feasibility of information therapy services in educational hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science. This is a descriptive survey. The population of this study includes chiefs, and physicians of twelve educational hospitals in shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science. Stratified sampling was used to select the study sample from among the chiefs, executive managers and 239 physicians of selected hospitals. Two questionnaires were developed for data collection. The first questionnaire was for investigating the physician’s opinions about creating information therapy centers and the second questionnaire was for evaluating current conditions in educational hospitals. The data were analyzed by Excel 2007. The results of the study showed that all the physicians and chiefs of the hospitals believed in the adoption of information therapy services. Most of the physicians believed that patients’ willingness to receive information from their physicians (89/97%) as well as the variation in educational levels in patients (94/99%) will affect their use of information therapy services. The feasibility study showed that despite funding and staff deficiencies, delivery of information therapy services is possible in educational hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of medical science.