The client's view of high-quality care in Santiago, Chile.

The meaning of quality of care for the women who receive reproductive health services at a family planning and maternal and infant care clinic in Santiago, Chile, was examined to describe the clinic's service from the women's point of view. A participatory research project with the staff of the clinic was conducted. The central part of that study, reported here, consisted of interviews with 60 of the 330 women who came to the clinic during two weeks in June 1991. The women defined high quality of care as "being treated like a human being." Among specific elements of care they identified were cleanliness, promptness and availability of service, time made available for consultation, learning opportunities for themselves and their partners, and cordial treatment. Clients' view of quality of care must be supplemented by professional judgments about how well services meet clients' needs. But the client's view is determinant if improvements are to result in greater acceptance and sustained use of the services offered. The issues identified by the clients involve only minor costs for the clinic.