Measuring governance at health facility level: developing and validation of simple governance tool in Zambia

Background

Governance has been cited as a key determinant of economic growth, social advancement and overall development. Achievement of millennium development goals is partly dependant on governance practices. In 2007, Health Systems 20/20 conducted an Internet-based survey on the practice of good governance. The survey posed a set of good practices related to health governance and asked respondents to indicate whether their experience confirmed or disconfirmed those practices. We applied the 17 governance statements in rural health facilities of Zambia. The aim was to establish whether the statements were reliable and valid for assessing governance practices at primary care level.

Methods

Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. We first applied the governance statements developed by the health system 20/20 and then conducted focus group discussion and In-depth interviews to explore some elements of governance including accountability and community participation. The target respondents were the health facility management team and community members. The sample size include 42 health facilities. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17 and Nvivo version 9.

Results

The 95% one-sided confidence interval for Cronbach’s alpha was between 0.69 and 0.74 for the 16 items.The mean score for most of the items was above 3. Factor analysis yielded five principle components: Transparency, community participation, Intelligence & vision, Accountability and Regulation & oversight. Most of the items (6) clustered around the transparency latent factor. Chongwe district performed poorly in overall mean governance score and across the five domains of governance. The overall scores in Chongwe ranged between 51 and 94% with the mean of 80%. Kafue and Luangwa districts had similar overall mean governance scores (88%). Community participation was generally low. Generally, it was noted that community members lacked capacity to hold health workers accountable for drugs and medical supplies.

Conclusions

The study successfully validated and applied the new tool for evaluating health system governance at health facility level. The results have shown that it is feasible to measure governance practices at health facility level and that the adapted tool is fairly reliable with the 95% one-sided confidence interval for Cronbach’s alpha laying between 0.69 and 0.74 for the 16 items. Caution should be taken when interpreting overall scores as they tended to mask domain specific variations.

     

Effects of health decentralization, financing and governance in Mexico

OBJECTIVE: To identify the effects of decentralization on health financing and governance policies in Mexico from the perspective of users and providers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in four states that were selected according to geopolitical and administrative criteria. Four indicators were assessed: changes and effects on governance, financing sources and funds, the final destination of resources, and fund allocation mechanisms. Data collection was performed using in-depth interviews with health system key personnel and community leaders, consensus techniques and document analyses. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by thematic segmentation. RESULTS: The results show different effectiveness levels for the four states regarding changes in financing policies and community participation. Effects on health financing after decentralization were identified in each state, including: greater participation of municipal and state governments in health expenditure, increased financial participation of households, greater community participation in low-income states, duality and confusion in the new mechanisms for coordination among the three government levels, absence of an accountability system, lack of human resources and technical skills to implement, monitor and evaluate changes in financing. CONCLUSIONS: In general, positive and negative effects of decentralization on health financing and governance were identified. The effects mentioned by health service providers and users were related to a diversification of financing sources, a greater margin for decisions around the use and final destination of financial resources and normative development for the use of resources. At the community level, direct financial contributions were mentioned, as well as in-kind contributions, particularly in the form of community work.     

卫生部门治理:战略与机制

在将健康作为一个要素融入所有政府部门与社会团体政策制定中的大健康整合战略下,政府各部门及社会团体在共识基础上形成广泛性治理目标,由政府主导卫生系统的运行,通过加强政府各部门间及与社会组织的协调与合作,统筹卫生系统的服务及管理功能,建立社会参与的绩效问责机制,实现提升卫生部门治理水平,改善社会健康结果的目标。     

全球卫生治理面临的挑战及其应对策略

人人享有健康是一项基本人权。全球卫生治理的使命就是要在全世界范围内促进“人人享有健康”。目前,全球卫生治理面临诸多重大挑战,如治理主体众多但目标不一致导致领导权威难以确立,以国家为中心的国际体制使跨国集体行动的达成存在一定困难,各国对公共卫生事项设置的优先顺序存在分歧,全球卫生资金投入不足且分配不均,全球卫生治理严重缺乏国际协调,全球卫生治理基本框架尚未完全形成等。为了应对挑战,建议深化全球卫生改革,提高全球卫生治理的能力与效率;国际社会与各国政府必须审思与重构自身卫生法律与政策,把重点放在促进卫生公平而非提高经济竞争力上;各国政府必须重点关注民生和民权,重视非卫生领域政策与卫生政策的协调,从根本上改善健康的决定因素;增加全球卫生治理的透明度、建立新型问责制,增强世界卫生组织的权威性;在全球层面构建全球卫生治理基本框架,增强全球卫生治理的有序性。     

Good governance and sustainability: a case study from Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: On the basis of a case study in Pakistan, the paper argues that good governance, characterized by transparency, accountability and meaningful community participation, plays a critical role in the sustainability of donor-funded health systems projects in the public health sector. METHODS: The Family Health Project (FHP) (1992-1999), funded by the World Bank, has been used as a case study. Critical analysis of secondary data mainly obtained from the Department of Health (DoH) in the province of Sindh in Pakistan is the major tool used for the study. Data from other sources including the World Bank have also been used. RESULTS: The analysis reveals that the existing health care system could not fully absorb and sustain major "sociopolitical" thrusts of the project, meaningful community participation and "democratic" decision-making processes being the most important ones. The hierarchical structure and management process made it difficult to produce a sense of ownership of the project among all managers and the rank and file staff. The Provincial Health Development Center (PHDC) and District Health Development Centers (DHDCs) established by the FHP did not receive adequate financial and political support from DoH and the Ministry of Health to have much control of the project at the local level. Consequently, these Centers largely failed to institutionalize a continuing training program for district level health officials/professionals. Due to lack of political support, the District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) could not be institutionalized. Community participation in the DHMTs was symbolic rather than forceful. Improved coordination among all stakeholders, more stable and competent leadership, more meaningful community participation, greater devolution of project management to the district level, and better management of resources would have resulted in more effective and efficient implementation of the project. Based on these findings, the paper introduces a Sustainable Management Approach (SMA) as a tool that can be used to ensure the sustainability of health systems projects, particularly those funded by international organizations in developing countries. CONCLUSIONS: Good governance and a conducive organizational culture are important prerequisites for incorporating any new project within an existing system. This includes prior consensus building among all stakeholders, a meaningful and inclusive participatory planning, implementation and evaluation process involving communities, political commitment, and the identification and use of appropriate leadership for project management.     

Communities and hospitals: social capital, community accountability, and service provision in U.S. community hospitals

OBJECTIVES: The study related community social capital to the level of community accountability and provision of community-oriented services in U.S. community hospitals. STUDY SETTING: The sample included 1,383 community hospitals that participated in the 1997 American Hospital Association's (AHA) Hospital Annual and Governance Surveys. DATA SOURCES: (1) The 1997 AHA Annual Hospital Survey, (2) the 1997 AHA Hospital Governance Survey, (3) the DDB Needham Market Facts Survey, (4) the 1996 County Election Data File, and (5) the 1998 Area Resource File. RESEARCH DESIGN: The study used a mix of longitudinal and cross-sectional data. KEY FINDINGS: We identified two distinct indicators of social capital-community participation and voting participation. Community accountability in hospitals was unrelated to either indicator. Hospitals' provision of community-oriented health services was negatively associated with community participation but unrelated with voting participation. The interaction between voting participation and community representation on hospital governance was positively associated with community accountability and provision of community-oriented health services. CONCLUSION: Neither community participation nor voting participation was sufficient to influence hospital behavior. The positive finding associated with the interaction between voting participation and community representation on hospital governance underscored the importance of an active political culture in influencing hospital behavior, without which the installation of community representatives on hospital governance might be more symbolic than actually serving the health concerns of community residents.     

The effects of leadership and governance processes on member participation in community health coalitions.

This study examines the effects of coalition leadership and governance on member participation in voluntary community health coalitions. Path modeling was used to explore how leadership and governance processes in coalitions affect existing member costs, benefits, and levels of participation. It was hypothesized that the effects of coalition decision making and leadership variables would be indirect by working through their effects on participants' perceived influence over coalition decision making and on overall consensus around the coalition vision. Results of the analysis indicate that open and collaborative decision making and empowering leadership do have indirect, positive effects on the level of participation by way of vision consensus and participation benefits. Participation costs, however, show no significant direct effect on the level of participation. Perceived personal influence appears to be primarily an outcome of participation rather than an antecedent.     

Governance,public participation and accountability: To whom are regional health authorities accountable?

The discourse of health reform has emphasized the need to increase public participation in decision-making as a way to enhance accountability. Despite recent gains in public participation in health care – primarily through citizen governance of regional health authorities – a clearly articulated accountability framework remains elusive in the Canadian context. If citizen participation is to be effective and meaningful, governing boards and politicians need to adopt an accountability framework that clearly delineates roles and responsibilities.     

The financial sustainability of the World Health Organization and the political economy of global health governance: a review of funding proposals

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to experience immense financial stress. The precarious financial situation of the WHO has given rise to extensive dialogue and debate. This dialogue has generated diverse technical proposals to remedy the financial woes of the WHO and is intimately tied to existential questions about the future of the WHO in global health governance. In this paper, we review, categorize, and synthesize the proposals for financial reform of the WHO. It appears that less contentious issues, such as convening financing dialogue and establishing a health emergency programme, received consensus from member states. However, member states are reluctant to increase the assessed annual contributions to the WHO, which weakens the prospect for greater autonomy for the organisation. The WHO remains largely supported by earmarked voluntary contributions from states and non-state actors. We argue that while financial reform requires institutional changes to enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency, it is also deeply tied to the political economy of state sovereignty and ideas about the leadership role of the WHO in a crowded global health governance context.     

Governance commitment to reduce maternal mortality. A political determinant beyond the wealth of the countries

Some countries reached, in 2015, the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality to 96 or less maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Others, however, did not. This paper analyses the strength of the association between maternal mortality and each of the six components of Governance—a political determinant scarcely explored in the literature—in 174 countries. It was found that the greater the governance, the lower maternal mortality, independently of a country's wealth. We used all six indicators of the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators Project in 2015: government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption, voice and accountability, and political stability and absence of violence. Findings were encouraging as maternal mortality in low-income countries with higher government effectiveness and regulatory quality was similar to that of medium-income countries with lower government effectiveness and regulatory quality. To achieve the post-2015 sustainable development goal on preventable maternal mortality—which persists despite economic development—all governance dimensions are essential and represent interdependent cornerstones.     

我国区域整合型医疗健康服务体系的治理逻辑与路径分析 ——基于多中心治理视角

治理机制是构建区域整合型医疗健康服务体系的核心机制之一,从单中心治理向多中心治理转变,是推动卫生健康领域治理体系与治理能力现代化的重要途径.本文基于多中心治理理论,探索构建区域整合型医疗健康服务体系多中心协同治理框架,提出多元主体协同治理结构以及实现制度有效嵌入的核心机制;针对实践中的现实困境,提出在构建区域整合型医疗...     

七个发达国家卫生系统的领导与治理

本文运用结构式调查方法,探讨了澳大利亚、英国、德国、荷兰、挪威、瑞典和瑞士七个发达国家卫生系统的领导和治理情况。领导与治理模式包含三项基本职能：优先顺序设置、绩效监管和问责制。各国卫生系统的领导和治理方法存在着显著差异,零散并略显随意。虽然各国在卫生系统的总体目标上达成了共识,但设置优先顺序的途径各不相同。成本效益分析作为设置卫生系统运行优先顺序的一个主要方法被各国加以广泛运用,但并未发挥核心作用。各国虽然处于不同的发展阶段,但绩效监管却能广泛吸收有益意见。问责制特别是在最优方法的不确定性方面,各国之间的差异最大。大多数情况下,市场机制、选举程序、直接经济激励以及专业监督与控制等几种不同问责机制的组合可能更为合适。而且这些机制应与优先顺序设置和绩效监管协调一致。     

Comprehensive effective and efficient global public health surveillance

At a crossroads, global public health surveillance exists in a fragmented state. Slow to detect, register, confirm, and analyze cases of public health significance, provide feedback, and communicate timely and useful information to stakeholders, global surveillance is neither maximally effective nor optimally efficient. Stakeholders lack a globa surveillance consensus policy and strategy; officials face inadequate training and scarce resources.Three movements now set the stage for transformation of surveillance: 1) adoption by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the revised International Health Regulations (IHR[2005]); 2) maturation of information sciences and the penetration of information technologies to distal parts of the globe; and 3) consensus that the security and public health communities have overlapping interests and a mutual benefit in supporting public health functions. For these to enhance surveillance competencies, eight prerequisites should be in place: politics, policies, priorities, perspectives, procedures, practices, preparation, and payers.To achieve comprehensive, global surveillance, disparities in technical, logistic, governance, and financial capacities must be addressed. Challenges to closing these gaps include the lack of trust and transparency; perceived benefit at various levels; global governance to address data power and control; and specified financial support from globa partners.We propose an end-state perspective for comprehensive, effective and efficient global, multiple-hazard public health surveillance and describe a way forward to achieve it. This end-state is universal, global access to interoperable public health information when it's needed, where it's needed. This vision mitigates the tension between two fundamental human rights: first, the right to privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal health information combined with the right of sovereign, national entities to the ownership and stewardship of public health information; and second, the right of individuals to access real-time public health information that might impact their lives.The vision can be accomplished through an interoperable, global public health grid. Adopting guiding principles, the global community should circumscribe the overlapping interest, shared vision, and mutual benefit between the security and public health communities and define the boundaries. A global forum needs to be established to guide the consensus governance required for public health information sharing in the 21st century.     

Leadership and governance in seven developed health systems

This paper explores leadership and governance arrangements in seven developed health systems: Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. It presents a cybernetic model of leadership and governance comprising three fundamental functions: priority setting, performance monitoring and accountability arrangements. The paper uses a structured survey to examine critically current arrangements in the seven countries. Approaches to leadership and governance vary substantially, and have to date been developed piecemeal and somewhat arbitrarily. Although there seems to be reasonable consensus on broad goals of the health system there is variation in approaches to setting priorities. Cost-effectiveness analysis is in widespread use as a basis for operational priority setting, but rarely plays a central role. Performance monitoring may be the domain where there is most convergence of thinking, although countries are at different stages of development. The third domain of accountability is where the greatest variation occurs, and where there is greatest uncertainty about the optimal approach. We conclude that a judicious mix of accountability mechanisms is likely to be appropriate in most settings, including market mechanisms, electoral processes, direct financial incentives, and professional oversight and control. The mechanisms should be aligned with the priority setting and monitoring processes.     

国际社会健康治理的理念与实践

基于国际社会健康治理理念的形成与发展,一些典型国家在政府与社会合作治理、组织间的纵向与横向治理方面积累了丰富经验。在共享价值与政策目标共识的基础上,将健康治理理念转化为政府与社会合作参与的共同实践,不仅体现出平等、多元、信任、合作、参与的多目标价值导向,也促进了国际社会卫生管理体制与健康服务模式的转型发展,这为构建我国健康治理模式提供了经验。     

Decolonizing Health Governance: A Uganda Case Study on the Influence of Political History on Community Participation

This paper presents a case study of how colonial legacies in Uganda have affected the shape and breadth of community participation in health system governance. Using Habermas’s theory of deliberative democracy and the right to health, we examine the key components required for decolonizing health governance in postcolonial countries. We argue that colonization distorts community participation, which is critical for building a strong state and a responsive health system. Participation processes grounded in the principles of democracy and the right to health increase public trust in health governance. The introduction and maintenance of British laws in Uganda, and their influence over local health governance, denies citizens the opportunity to participate in key decisions that affect them, which impacts public trust in the government. Postcolonial societies must tackle how imported legal frameworks exclude and limit community participation. Without meaningful participation, health policy implementation and accountability will remain elusive.     

Equity, governance and financing after health care reform: lessons from Mexico

To determine, from the perspective of providers, community leaders and users of health services, equity, governance and health financing outcomes of the Mexican health system reform.Cross-sectional study oriented towards the qualitative analysis of financing, governance and equity indicators for the uninsured population. Taking into account feasibility, as well as political and technical criteria, six Mexican states were selected as study populations and a qualitative research was conducted during 2004-2006. Two hundred and forty in-depth interviews were applied, in all selected states, to 60 decision-makers, including medical and administrative personnel; 60 service providers at health centres; 60 representatives of civil organizations, including municipal representatives and, finally, 60 members of health committees and users of services at second and first levels of care units. The analysis of interviews was performed using ATLAS-Ti software. An outcome mapping of health reform was developed. For political actors, Mexican health system reform has not modified dependence on the central level; ignorance about reform strategies and lack of participation in the search for financial resources to finance health systems were evidenced. Also, in all states under study, community leaders and users of services reported the need to improve an effective accountability system at both municipal and state levels. Health strategies for equity, governance and financing do not have adequate mechanisms to promote participation from all social actors. Improving this situation is a very important goal in the Mexican health democratization process, in the context of health care reform. There are relevant positive and negative effects of the reform on equity, governance and financing in health. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of lessons learned in Mexico and the usefulness of the main strengths and weaknesses, as relevant evidences for other middle-income countries which are designing, implementing and evaluating reform strategies in order to achieve equity in resource allocation, good levels of governance and a greater financial protection in health.     

Clinical governance and governmentality

The introduction of Clinical Governance into the National Health Service in England represents a fundamental shift in the regulatory relationship between the state and medical professionals. This paper critically examines the underlying assumptions of Clinical Governance, and discusses them in relation to Foucauldian concepts of 'governmentality'. First, official definitions of Clinical Governance are reviewed in the context of other policies to apply increased control and surveillance to medical professionals and linkages between this and wider tends in public sector managerialism and governance. The paper then briefly considers these developments in relation to theoretical accounts of bureaucracy, professionalism, risk and trust. It is argued that at the organisational level, Clinical Governance can be usefully analysed as involving a move towards 'encoded knowledge' through the use of 'soft bureaucracy'.     

The role of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) in strengthening health system governance: Lessons from three middle-income countries—Argentina,Jordan, and South Africa (2017–2018)

IntroductionToward the Global Vaccine Action Plan 2020 goal, almost 90% of countries have established a National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG). However, little is known about NITAG's contributions to governance.MethodsIn 2017–2018, a two-step, qualitative retrospective study was conducted. Jordan (JO), Argentina (AR), and South Africa (SA) were selected owing to government-financed NITAGs from middle-income countries (MICs), geographic diversity, and a vaccine introduction with NITAG support. Country case studies were developed, collecting data through desk review and face-to-face key informant interviews (KIIs) from Ministry of Health (MoH) and NITAG. Case studies were analyzed together, to assess governance applying the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies framework focusing on transparency, accountability, participation, integrity, and policy capacity (TAPIC).ResultsDocument review and 53 KII (22 AR, 20 SA, 11 JO) showed NITAGs played a pivotal role as advisors promoting a culture of evidence-informed policies. NITAGs strengthened governance, although practices varied among countries. Meetings were conducted behind-closed-doors, participation restricted to members, only in one country agendas, and recommendations were public (AR). To increase participation, policy capacity, and transparency, countries considered adding experts in communications, advocacy, and economics. AR and SA contemplated including community members. NITAGs functioned autonomously from the government, with no established internal or external monitoring or supervision. NITAG meeting minutes allowed the review of integrity, adherence to terms of reference, standard operating procedures, and conflict of interest (CoI). For the most part, NITAGs abided by their mandates. Significant issues were related to the level of MoH support and oversight of CoI declaration and documentation.ConclusionsSystematically implementing governance approaches could improve processes, better tailor policies, and implementation. The long-term survival and resilience of NITAGs in these countries showed they play a significant role in strengthening governance. Lessons learned could be useful to those promoting country-driven evidence-informed decision-making.     

Identifying and addressing the governance accountability problem

Successive global health crises – from HIV and AIDS to SARS and H5N1 to Ebola – highlight one of the most pressing challenges to global health security: the GAP – the governance accountability problem. Introduced in 2014 in the book entitled, HIV/AIDS and the South African state: The responsibility to respond, this article takes up Alan Whiteside’s challenges, in a book review in these pages, to offer a more comprehensive analysis of the GAP. The GAP [?ehovi?, A. B. (2014). HIV/AIDS and the South African state: The responsibility to respond. Ashgate Global Health.] posits that there is a disconnect between ad hoc, state and non-state interventions to respond to an epidemic crisis, and the ultimate guarantee for health (security), which remains legally vested with the state. The existence and expansion of such ad hoc solutions result in a negligence: a failure of re-ordering of health rights and responsibilities for health between such actors and the accountable state. The GAP aims to highlight this disjunction. This article first defines the GAP. Second, it asks two questions: First, what is the contribution of the GAP thesis to understanding the emerging health security landscape? Second, what can the GAP offer in terms of practical insight into viable solutions to the re-ordering of state/non-state-based responsibility and accountability for global health security?