THE SYSTEM OF INDICATORS AND INDICES OF FOREIGN CITIZENS’ CONFIDENCE IN THE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF BELARUSIAN DOCTORS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF GRODNO REGION)

Abstract

Introduction. To solve the problem of assessing the current state of foreign citizens’ trust in the professional activities of Belarusian doctors, it is proposed to use the index of confidence in Belarusian doctors, determined on the basis of the indices of generalized trust in Belarusian doctors (three types), the values of which are calculated based on the values of two indicators: the indicator of generalized trust and the indicator of the measure of personal trust. Objectives.To introduce a new method of assessing the trust in Belarusian doctors among foreign patients. Material and methods. Using the principles of sociology of medicine, an approach has been developed to mathematically assess the level of trust of foreign consumers of medical services in Belarusian doctors, the system was introduced in 2021 into the work of a number of healthcare organizations in Grodno region (healthcare institution «Grodno University Clinic», healthcare institution «Grodno City Clinical Hospital of Emergency Medical Care», healthcare institution «Ostrovets Central District Clinical Hospital»). The sample consisted of 297 English-speaking foreigners: 184 (61.95%) women and 113 (38.05%) men. Every third foreigner - 34.24% of women {27.77; 41.35}% and 30.97% of men {23.19;40.01}% - had already an experience of receiving medical care in countries other than Belarus and the country of their residence. The Microsoft Excel 2010 program, the Statistica 10 software package, serial number AXAR207F394425FA-Q were used to process and present the results. Results. The method includes a sociological survey followed by the calculation of the index of trust in Belarusian doctors, determined on the basis of generalized trust indices (three types). The indices of generalized trust in three characteristics - experience, professionalism, ethics - differ, trust in the professionalism of Belarusian doctors prevails (p<0.01), the general index of trust of foreign citizens in the professional activities of Belarusian doctors makes up 40.4%, which corresponds to the average level of trust. Conclusions. The results indicate a sufficient level of trust in Belarusian doctors on the part of foreign patients. Vectors for increasing trust are represented by the aspects of expanding the experience of doctors working with English-speaking patients and issues of ethics and communication in healthcare.