Journal of School of Public Health and

  In this article 40 years of Iranian experience in primary health care in west Azarbaijan and behvarzs is presented. In this regard quantitative development of PHC during this period will be discussed, moreover challenges and opportunities of this program will be analysed. Finally family physician program should be considered as an appropriate tool to achieve universal coverago of PHC in iran.

Background and Aim: The quality of life of community health workers (Behvarzes) is of special importance since they are in direct contact with the community offering health services to individuals and families. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of life of Behvarzes in Qazvin Province, Iran.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 406 male- and female-Behvarzes working in the health houses in Qazvin Province, Iran. Data were collected using the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The questionnaire was distributed in the Behvarzes’ monthly refresher training sessions and completed by them (self-administrated). Data were analyzed using SPSS version17.

Result: The average age of the participants was 35.4±  6.3 years. Analysis of the data showed the means of quality of life scores for physical, psychological, social and environment domains to be 50.81%, 53.00%, %53.96 and %35.7, respectively. In all domains, the score of quality of life for the Behvarzes with a high education level was significantly higher than those of others (p<0.001). In addition, marital status was significantly associated with the quality of life

 in all the domains (p<0.001) except in the environment domain (p=0.16).

Conclusion: The result of this study show that the quality of life of health workers (Behvarzes) is medium. Considering the importance of their work and the services they offer to the community, attempts should be made to improve their quality of life.