Background

Knowing how health problems are perceived is an element of primary importance for health systems, since it is the first step for the population to recognize a disease and demand medical attention.

Objectives

To develop and evaluate the implementation of a new healthcare model adapted to the necessities and illness self-perception of a community in the urban area of ​​Greater La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Material and methods

The community’s self-rated general health status and illness self-perception were explored by a survey, followed by an intervention study performed on 2,430 participants randomly divided in 2 groups (Intervention: received personalized home health care; Control: health care was provided from hospitals and primary care health services).

Results

Almost 70% of the participants were satisfied with their health status. In cases where a disease was detected; older people and men shown to perceive their illness later compared to women and young adults. Only 21% of the population had suitable access to a health service. Compared with the Control Group, regular and personalized home visits significantly improved treatment adherence (43% vs 94%), reduced annual undesirable events (stroke, myocardial infarcts, etc.) associated to chronic diseases (2.7% vs 1.2%) and lowered hospitalization rates (2.9% vs 2.0%).

Conclusions

The data obtained showed that the population had low illness awareness, which reduced the spontaneous demand of care in health services. A model of health care based on regular home visits demonstrated efficacy in terms of disease prevention, illness control, avoiding consequences of chronic disease and reducing hospitalizations.