Identifying Reasons of Non-attendance of Urban Households in the Comprehensive Centers of Health Services in Sanandaj: A Combination of Two Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches

Despite the implementation of the health reform plan and the increasing number of comprehensive centers of health services in 2014 in Iran, many people still do not attend these centers for various reasons. The aim of this study was to determine the reasons why urban households do not attend comprehensive centers of health services in Sanandaj.   This study was carried out using two quantitative and qualitative approaches. In the quantitative section, data were collected through a checklist and interviews with 200 household heads who did not attend. In the qualitative section, the views of physicians, other health providers, and household heads were obtained using semi-structured interviews.   A feeling of no need for health services, paying more attention to treatment, working on morning shifts, physical problems, inappropriate location of centers, inadequate informing services to community members, inconsistency between existing services and clients’ needs, and inappropriate treatment of some health providers were the most important barriers to non-attendance of clients. Despite four years of implementation of the health reform plan in Iran, 53.5% and 60% of participants had no awareness about the presence of mental health and nutrition experts and their free services in the centers, respectively.   Although there are many reasons for people not attending comprehensive centers of health services in cities, informing and introducing services to the community and considering the clients’ needs are essential.