Health needs assessment of the residents of the informal settlements in South‑Eastern Iran: A case study of Bam city

Informal settlements are considered as one of the social problems in societies. As the residents do not have adequate access to basic services, including health services, their health is at risk. This study was conducted to evaluate the access to health services and determine the health needs of informal settlements in Bam city.

This cross‑sectional study was carried out in the spring of 2020 in Bam. The sample size was 400 residents of informal settlements in Bam, and the multi‑stage random cluster sampling was used. A researcher‑made questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using the content validity, and its reliability was 85% by Cronbach’s alpha. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 23 software and descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation, and percentage) as well as analytical statistics (Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests).

More than 50% of the individuals had good access to general practitioners and health centers. However, over 50% had poor access to dental, para‑clinical, specialist, and hospital services. Furthermore, 49.3% of the people assessed their health status as poor in the previous year. A total of 46 items in the areas of communicable and non‑communicable diseases, women’s health, mental and social health and addiction, environmental health, etc., were identified as the most important health needs of the informal settlement residents.

Informal settlements are facing various health problems including environmental health, mental and social health, and addiction, meeting which requires collaboration of all stakeholders as well as provision of a comprehensive program and appropriate service packages.