Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health.

Organized services to provide mental health care.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

Systematic identification of a population's needs or the assessment of individuals to determine the proper level of services needed.

The use of community resources, individual case work, or group work to promote the adaptive capacities of individuals in relation to their social and economic environments. It includes social service agencies.

The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.

Health care services related to human REPRODUCTION and diseases of the reproductive system. Services are provided to both sexes and usually by physicians in the medical or the surgical specialties such as REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE; ANDROLOGY; GYNECOLOGY; OBSTETRICS; and PERINATOLOGY.

Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive health services provided for individuals in the community.

Organized services to provide health care for children.

Health services, public or private, in rural areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services.

Organized services to provide health care to expectant and nursing mothers.

Support systems that provide assistance and encouragement to individuals with physical or emotional disabilities in order that they may better cope. Informal social support is usually provided by friends, relatives, or peers, while formal assistance is provided by churches, groups, etc.

Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive mental health services provided for individuals in the community.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

Persons who provide care to those who need supervision or assistance in illness or disability. They may provide the care in the home, in a hospital, or in an institution. Although caregivers include trained medical, nursing, and other health personnel, the concept also refers to parents, spouses, or other family members, friends, members of the clergy, teachers, social workers, fellow patients.

The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.

Planning for needed health and/or welfare services and facilities.

Organized services to provide health care to adolescents, ages ranging from 13 through 18 years.

Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the aged and the maintenance of health in the elderly.

The state wherein the person is well adjusted.

The organization and administration of health services dedicated to the delivery of health care.

Health services for employees, usually provided by the employer at the place of work.

A system of medical care regulated, controlled and financed by the government, in which the government assumes responsibility for the health needs of the population.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

Disorders related to substance abuse.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

Health care programs or services designed to assist individuals in the planning of family size. Various methods of CONTRACEPTION can be used to control the number and timing of childbirths.

The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.

Management of public health organizations or agencies.

Organized services to provide health care to women. It excludes maternal care services for which MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES is available.

Health services, public or private, in urban areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)

A constituent organization of the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES concerned with protecting and improving the health of the nation.

Health care provided to specific cultural or tribal peoples which incorporates local customs, beliefs, and taboos.

The state of the organism when it functions optimally without evidence of disease.

Community health and NURSING SERVICES providing coordinated multiple services to the patient at the patient's homes. These home-care services are provided by a visiting nurse, home health agencies, HOSPITALS, or organized community groups using professional staff for care delivery. It differs from HOME NURSING which is provided by non-professionals.

A health care system which combines physicians, hospitals, and other medical services with a health plan to provide the complete spectrum of medical care for its customers. In a fully integrated system, the three key elements - physicians, hospital, and health plan membership - are in balance in terms of matching medical resources with the needs of purchasers and patients. (Coddington et al., Integrated Health Care: Reorganizing the Physician, Hospital and Health Plan Relationship, 1994, p7)

Behaviors expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Life style is closely associated with health behavior and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural.

Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.

The concept pertaining to the health status of inhabitants of the world.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

A division of the UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE that is responsible for the public health and the provision of medical services to NATIVE AMERICANS in the United States, primarily those residing on reservation lands.

Preferentially rated health-related activities or functions to be used in establishing health planning goals. This may refer specifically to PL93-641.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.

The optimal state of the mouth and normal functioning of the organs of the mouth without evidence of disease.

Planning for health resources at a regional or multi-state level.

The status of health in rural populations.

Services designed to promote, maintain, or restore dental health.

The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.

The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.

Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products.

Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

Available manpower, facilities, revenue, equipment, and supplies to produce requisite health care and services.

Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.

Variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between population groups defined by socioeconomic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, economic resources, or gender and populations identified geographically or similar measures.

The availability of HEALTH PERSONNEL. It includes the demand and recruitment of both professional and allied health personnel, their present and future supply and distribution, and their assignment and utilization.

Institutions which provide medical or health-related services.

Federal, state, or local government organized methods of financial assistance.

A geographic area defined and served by a health program or institution.

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

Outside services provided to an institution under a formal financial agreement.

A cabinet department in the Executive Branch of the United States Government concerned with administering those agencies and offices having programs pertaining to health and human services.

Facilities which administer the delivery of health care services to people living in a community or neighborhood.

Health care provided to individuals.

The status of health in urban populations.

Planning that has the goals of improving health, improving accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a whole community. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p299)

Differences in access to or availability of medical facilities and services.

Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)

The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.

The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of women.

Application of marketing principles and techniques to maximize the use of health care resources.

The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide.

That distinct portion of the institutional, industrial, or economic structure of a country that is controlled or owned by non-governmental, private interests.

Preventive health services provided for students. It excludes college or university students.

Health services for college and university students usually provided by the educational institution.

The inhabitants of rural areas or of small towns classified as rural.

The degree to which the individual regards the health care service or product or the manner in which it is delivered by the provider as useful, effective, or beneficial.