The influence of the Community‐based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) program on community health sustainability in the Upper West Region of Ghana

Ghana introduced Community‐based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) to improve primary health care in rural areas. The extension of health care services to rural areas has the potential to increase sustainability of community health. Drawing on the capitals framework, this study aims to understand the contribution of CHPS to the sustainability of community health in the Upper West Region of Ghana—the poorest region in the country. We conducted in‐depth interviews with community members (n = 25), key informant interviews with health officials (n = 8), and focus group discussions (n = 12: made up of six to eight participants per group) in six communities from two districts. Findings show that through their mandate of primary health care provision, CHPS contributed directly to improvement in community health (eg, access to family planning services) and indirectly through strengthening social, human, and economic capital and thereby improving social cohesion, awareness of health care needs, and willingness to take action at the community level. Despite the current contributions of CHPS in improving the sustainability of community health, there are several challenges, based on which we recommend, that government should increase staffing and infrastructure in order to strengthen and maintain the functionality of CHPS.     

Rural maternity care and health policy: parents' experiences

Objective: To explore rural residents' experiences of access to maternity care with consideration of the policy context. Design: This paper describes findings from focus groups with parents which formed part of case study data from a larger study. Setting: Four north Queensland rural towns. Participants: Thirty‐three parents living in one of the four rural towns. Main outcome measures: Identifying prevalent themes in case studies regarding rural parents' expectations and experiences in accessing maternity care. Results: Parents desired a local, safe and consistent maternity service. Removing or downgrading rural services introduced new barriers to care for rural residents: (i) increased financial costs; (ii) family issues; and (iii) safety concerns. Conclusions: Although concerns about rural residents' health status and health care access have received significant policy attention for over a decade, many of the problems which prompted these policy initiatives remain today. Current policy approaches should be re‐evaluated in order to improve rural Australians' access to vital health services such as maternity care.     

Informal patient payments in maternity hospitals in Kiev,Ukraine

Maternity care in Ukraine is a government priority. However, it has not undergone substantial changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Similar to the entire health care sector in Ukraine, maternity care suffers from inefficient funding, which results in low quality and poor access to services. The objective of this paper is to explore the practice of informal payments for maternity care in Ukraine, specifically in cases of childbirth in Kiev maternity hospitals. The paper provides an ethnographic study on the consumers' and providers' experiences with informal payments. The results suggest that informal payments for childbirth are an established practice in Kiev maternity hospitals. The bargaining process between the pregnant woman (incl. her partner) and the obstetrician is an important part of the predelivery arrangement, including the informal payment. To deal with informal payments in Kiev maternity hospitals, there is a need for the following: (i) regulation of the “quasi‐official” patient payments at the health care facility level; and (ii) improvement of professional ethics through staff training. These strategies should be coupled with improved governance of the health care sector in general, and maternity care in particular in order to attain international quality standards and adequate access to facilities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Older people's mental health in rural areas: Converting policy into service development,service access and a sustainable workforce

This paper describes the older people's mental health workforce development, policy development and implementation process and quantifies the rural service delivery and access impacts over a 15‐year period in New South Wales. It highlights the factors that are considered to be critical to successful rural service development such as commitment to funding parity, investment in strong local service leadership, and development of innovative, locally adapted rural service models. Building on these foundations, the Older People's Mental Health Program in New South Wales was able to address key challenges relating to service access in rural health and develop new, sustainable specialist older people's mental health service networks. A sustained focus on policy and implementation which explicitly supports rural older people's mental health service enhancement, and development of evidence‐based models of care, has significantly improved access to specialist mental health care for older people in rural areas. It has delivered 23 new rural older people's mental health community teams and a 440% increase in the number of people accessing these teams. It has also doubled the number of acute inpatient units and established new specialist mental health‐residential aged care partnership services in rural New South Wales. It has resulted in increased access to services for the “older old,” while not diminishing older people's rates of access to general adult mental health services. It has also supported innovative, sustainable rural service models such as “hub and spoke” models and step‐up step‐down inpatient services that build on existing health and hospital infrastructure and link geographically dispersed specialist clinicians and services together in rural service delivery.     

Migration and Maternity: Insights of Context,Health Policy,and Research Evidence on Experiences and Outcomes From a Three Country Preliminary Study Across Germany,Canada, and the United Kingdom

A group from Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom undertook country-specific scoping reviews and stakeholder consultations before joining to holistically compare migration and maternity in all three countries. We examined four interlinking dimensions to understand how international migrant/minority maternal health might be improved upon using transnational research: (a) wider sociopolitical context, (b) health policy arena, (c) constellation, outcomes, and experiences of maternity services, and (d) existing research contexts. There was clear evidence that the constellation and delivery of services may undermine good experiences and outcomes. Interventions to improve access and quality of care remain small scale, short term, and lacking in rigorous evaluation.     

Examining the organizational factors that affect health workers' attendance: Findings from southwestern Uganda

Sub‐Saharan Africa experiences human resources crisis in the health sector. Specifically, Uganda faces significant shortages in health care workforce at all levels. However, there is limited literature on factors contributing to health care workforce absenteeism. This study aims to explore reasons for absenteeism among health workers in rural Uganda. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and focus groups. Eight focus groups were conducted with participants (n = 27) selected from 39 selected health centers. Four main themes emerged as the reasons for absenteeism among health workers. These included personal/family related challenges, distance or transportation issues, income specifically additional sources of income, and poor support/supervision. Barriers to active engagement at work were also identified, including loss of motivation, concerns at home, patient level issues, and lack of equipment. Recommendations were also elicited from the participants. These findings are critical in formulating and developing interventions to address absenteeism and low performance among health workers.     

Clarifying the role of the mental health peer specialist in Massachusetts,USA: insights from peer specialists,supervisors and clients

Mental health peer specialists develop peer‐to‐peer relationships of trust with clients to improve their health and well‐being, functioning in ways similar to community health workers. Although the number of peer specialists in use has been increasing, their role in care teams is less defined than that of the community health worker. This qualitative study explored how the peer specialist role is defined across different stakeholder groups, the expectations for this role and how the peer specialist is utilised and integrated across different types of mental health services. Data were collected through interviews and focus groups conducted in Massachusetts with peer specialists (N = 44), their supervisors (N = 14) and clients (N = 10) between September 2009 and January 2011. A consensus coding approach was used and all data outputs were reviewed by the entire team to identify themes. Peer specialists reported that their most important role is to develop relationships with clients and that having lived mental health experience is a key element in creating that bond. They also indicated that educating staff about the recovery model and peer role is another important function. However, they often felt a lack of clarity about their role within their organisation and care team. Supervisors valued the unique experience that peer specialists bring to an organisation. However, without a defined set of expectations for this role, they struggled with training, guiding and evaluating their peer specialist staff. Clients reported that the shared lived experience is important for the relationship and that working with a peer specialist has improved their mental health. With increasing support for person‐centred integrated healthcare delivery models, the demand for mental health peer specialist services will probably increase. Therefore, clearer role definition, as well as workforce development focused on team orientation, is necessary for peer specialists to be fully integrated and supported in care teams.     

Formative research for the development of an Eye Health Strategic Planning and Evaluation Framework and a Checklist: A health systems approach

This formative research process aimed to develop an Eye Health Strategic Planning and Evaluation Framework and indicator Checklist. The research process utilized a multi‐phased multiple methods approach including literature review, initial expert review (n = 27), findings from a Cambodian Avoidable Blindness Initiative demonstration project (2009‐2012), observation and analysis of four rural sites of the Indian LV Prasad Eye Institute Pyramid Model (n = 21), and finally, a critique by Cambodian government eye health professionals/staff (n = 15), health center staff and community representatives (n = 77) and patients (n = 62). Results from three Cambodian population‐based surveys (KAP n = 599, patient follow‐up n = 354, and RAAB 4650) also informed the development of the Framework and the Checklist. The Framework domains include: situation analysis, determinants of accessibility, service delivery systems, operation systems, networks and linkages, outcomes, and impact. Domains were subdivided into 59 components. The Checklist consists of 253 indicator items. The Eye Health Strategic Planning and Evaluation Framework and the Checklist can assist policy makers, program planners, and evaluators to develop a comprehensive whole of systems approach to eye health care to improve coverage and utilization of services.     

Is rural mental health workforce a policy imperative?

An available and effective rural mental health workforce is critical to the provision of contemporary mental health care. During the last 5 years new mental health plans and strategies have been released every state and territory of Australia. This policy analysis examines the extent to which workforce, and particularly rural workforce issues are considered in these policies. The analysis revealed that rural workforce issues receive scant attention in state and territory mental health plans. Rural Australians comprise 28% of the total population, yet rural workforce issues are canvased, on average only 6% of the time general workforce issues are addressed. National mental health workforce plans do focus on the rural workforce, but these are not referenced in the state or territory strategies or workforce plans. Given the rural mental health workforce shortages, and consumer challenges in accessing rural mental health services, more planning and consideration to supporting and developing a rural workforce appears warranted.     

The importance of population differences: Influence of individual characteristics on the Australian public’s preferences for emergency care

A better understanding of the public’s preferences and what factors influence them is required if they are to be used to drive decision-making in health. This is particularly the case for service areas undergoing continual reform such as emergency and primary care. Accordingly, this study sought to determine if attitudes, socio-demographic characteristics and healthcare experiences influence the public’s intentions to access care and their preferences for hypothetical emergency care alternatives. A discrete choice experiment was used to elicit the preferences of Australian adults (n = 1529). Mixed logit regression analyses revealed the influence of a range of individual characteristics on preferences and service uptake choices across three different presenting scenarios. Age was associated with service uptake choices in all contexts, whilst the impact of other sociodemographics, health experience and attitudinal factors varied by context. The improvements in explanatory power observed from including these factors in the models highlight the need to further clarify their influence with larger populations and other presenting contexts, and to identify other determinants of preference heterogeneity. The results suggest social marketing programs undertaken as part of demand management efforts need to be better targeted if decision-makers are seeking to increase community acceptance of emerging service models and alternatives. Other implications for health policy, service planning and research, including for workforce planning and the possible introduction of a system of co-payments are discussed.     

Improving health equity through health care systems research

Objective

To describe health equity research priorities for health care delivery systems and delineate a research and action agenda that generates evidence-based solutions to persistent racial and ethnic inequities in health outcomes.

Data Sources and Study Setting

This project was conducted as a component of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) stakeholder engaged process to develop an Equity Agenda and Action Plan to guide priority setting to advance health equity. Recommendations were developed and refined based on expert input, evidence review, and stakeholder engagement. Participating stakeholders included experts from academia, health care organizations, industry, and government.

Study Design

Expert group consensus, informed by stakeholder engagement and targeted evidence review.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

Priority themes were derived iteratively through (1) brainstorming and idea reduction, (2) targeted evidence review of candidate themes, (3) determination of preliminary themes; (4) input on preliminary themes from stakeholders attending AHRQ's 2022 Health Equity Summit; and (5) and refinement of themes based on that input. The final set of research and action recommendations was determined by authors' consensus.

Principal Findings

Health care delivery systems have contributed to racial and ethnic disparities in health care. High quality research is needed to inform health care delivery systems approaches to undo systemic barriers and inequities. We identified six priority themes for research; (1) institutional leadership, culture, and workforce; (2) data-driven, culturally tailored care; (3) health equity targeted performance incentives; (4) health equity-informed approaches to health system consolidation and access; (5) whole person care; (6) and whole community investment. We also suggest cross-cutting themes regarding research workforce and research timelines.

Conclusions

As the nation's primary health services research agency, AHRQ can advance equitable delivery of health care by funding research and disseminating evidence to help transform the organization and delivery of health care.     

Understanding factors influencing home delivery in the context of user‐fee abolition in Northern Ghana: Evidence from 2014 DHS

User‐fee exemption for skilled delivery services has been implemented in Ghana since 2003 as a way to address financial barriers to access. However, many women still deliver at home. Based on data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, we estimated the prevalence of home delivery and determined the factors contributing to homebirths among a total of 622 women in the Northern region in the context of the user‐fee exemption policy in Ghana. Binary and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed. Results suggest home delivery prevalence of 59% (365/622). Traditional birth attendants attended majority of home deliveries (93.4%). After adjusting for potential confounders, making less than four antenatal care visits (aOR = 2.42; CI = 1.91‐6.45; p = 0.001), being a practitioner of traditional African religion (aOR = 16.40; CI = 3.10‐25.40; p = 0.000), being a Muslim (aOR 2.10; CI = 1.46‐5.30; p = 0.042), not having a health insurance (aOR = 1.85; CI = 1.773‐4.72; p = 0.016), living in a male‐headed household (aOR = 2.07; CI = 1.02‐4.53; p < 0.01), and being unexposed to media (aOR = 3.10; CI = 1.12‐5.38; p = 0.021) significantly predicted home delivery. Our results suggest that unless interventions are implemented to address other health system factors like insurance coverage, and socio‐cultural and religious beliefs that hinder uptake of skilled care, the full benefits of user‐fee exemption may not be realized in Ghana.     

Timeliness and Adequacy of Prenatal Care Among Department of Veterans Affairs–Enrolled Veterans: The First Step May Be the Biggest Hurdle

IntroductionLittle is known about access to and use of prenatal care by veterans using U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maternity benefits. We compared the timeliness and adequacy of prenatal care by veteran status and payor.Study DesignWe used VA clinical and admistrative data linked with California vital statistics patient discharge data to identify all births to VA-enrolled veterans and non-veterans between 2000 and 2012. Births were categorized based on veteran status and payor (non-veterans with Medicaid, non-veterans with private insurance, VA-enrolled veterans using VA maternity care benefits, and VA-enrolled veterans with other payor). Outcomes were timeliness of prenatal care (initiation before the end of the first trimester) and adequacy of prenatal care as measured by the Kotelchuck Index (inadequate, intermediate, adequate). Covariates included demographic, health, and pregnancy characteristics. We used generalized linear models and multinomial logistic regression to analyze the association of veteran status and payor with timeliness of prenatal care and adequacy of prenatal care, respectively.ResultsWe identified 6,196,432 births among VA-enrolled veterans (n = 17,495) and non-veterans (n = 6,178,937). Non-veterans using Medicaid had the lowest percentage of timely prenatal care (78.1%; n = 2,240,326), followed by VA-enrolled veterans using VA maternity care benefits (82.8%; n = 1,248). VA-enrolled veterans using VA maternity care benefits were the most likely to receive adequate prenatal care (92.0%; n = 1,365). Results remained consistent after adjustment.ConclusionsThis study provides key baseline data regarding access to and use of prenatal care by veterans using VA maternity benefits. Longitudinal studies including more recent data are needed to understand the impact of changing VA policy.     

“If Only Someone Had Told Me …”: Lessons From Rural Providers

Purpose: Health care providers face challenges in rural service delivery due to the unique circumstances of rural living. The intersection of rural living and health care challenges can create barriers to care that providers may not be trained to navigate, resulting in burnout and high turnover. Through the exploration of experienced rural providers’ knowledge and lessons learned, this study sought to inform future practitioners, educators, and policy makers in avenues through which to enhance training, recruiting, and maintaining a rural workforce across multiple health care domains. Methods: Using a qualitative study design, 18 focus groups were conducted, with a total of 127 health care providers from Alaska and New Mexico. Transcribed responses from the question, “What are the 3 things you wish someone would have told you about delivering health care in rural areas?” were thematically coded. Findings: Emergent themes coalesced into 3 overarching themes addressing practice‐related factors surrounding the challenges, adaptations, and rewards of being a rural practitioner. Conclusion: Based on the themes, a series of recommendations are offered to future rural practitioners related to community engagement, service delivery, and burnout prevention. The recommendations offered may help practitioners enter communities more respectfully and competently. They can also be used by training programs and communities to develop supportive programs for new practitioners, enabling them to retain their services, and help practitioners integrate into the community. Moving toward an integrative paradigm of health care delivery wherein practitioners and communities collaborate in service delivery will be the key to enhancing rural health care and reducing disparities.     

Living with osteogenesis imperfecta: A qualitative study exploring experiences and psychosocial impact from the perspective of patients,parents and professionals

BackgroundOsteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic condition characterised by increased bone fragility. Recurrent fractures, pain and fatigue have a considerable impact on many aspects of the life of a person affected with OI and their families.ObjectiveTo improve our understanding of the impact of OI on the daily lives of individuals and families and consider how the condition is managed so that support needs can be better addressed.MethodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 56) were conducted with adults affected with OI, with (n = 9) and without children (n = 8), parents of children affected with OI (n = 8), health professionals (n = 29) and patient advocates (n = 2). Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsThree overarching themes are described: OI is not just a physical condition, parenting and family functioning and managing the condition. Fractures, chronic pain and tiredness impact on daily life and emotional well-being. For parents with OI, pain, tiredness and mobility issues can limit interactions and activities with their children. Specialist paediatric health services for OI were highly valued. The need for more emotional support and improved coordination of adult health services was highlighted.ConclusionsOur findings allow a better understanding of the day-to-day experiences of individuals and families affected with OI. Supporting emotional well-being needs greater attention from policy makers and researchers. Improvements to the coordination of health services for adults with OI are needed and an in-depth exploration of young people's support needs is warranted with research focused on support through the teenage years.     

Study protocol: Evaluating the impact of a rural Australian primary health care service on rural health

Background  

Rural communities throughout Australia are experiencing demographic ageing, increasing burden of chronic diseases, and de-population. Many are struggling to maintain viable health care services due to lack of infrastructure and workforce shortages. Hence, they face significant health disadvantages compared with urban regions. Primary health care yields the best health outcomes in situations characterised by limited resources. However, few rigorous longitudinal evaluations have been conducted to systematise them; assess their transferability; or assess sustainability amidst dynamic health policy environments. This paper describes the study protocol of a comprehensive longitudinal evaluation of a successful primary health care service in a small rural Australian community to assess its performance, sustainability, and responsiveness to changing community needs and health system requirements.     

Factors influencing the burden of health care financing and the distribution of health care benefits in Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa

In Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa, health care financing is progressive overall. However, out-of-pocket payments and health insurance for the informal sector are regressive. The distribution of health care benefits is generally pro-rich. This paper explores the factors influencing these distributions in the three countries. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with insurance scheme members, the uninsured, health care providers and managers. Household surveys were also conducted in all countries. Flat-rate contributions contributed to the regressivity of informal sector voluntary schemes, either by design (in Tanzania) or due to difficulties in identifying household income levels (in Ghana). In all three countries, the regressivity of out-of-pocket payments is due to the incomplete enforcement of exemption and waiver policies, partial or no insurance cover among poorer segments of the population and limited understanding of entitlements among these groups. Generally, the pro-rich distribution of benefits is due to limited access to higher level facilities among poor and rural populations, who rely on public primary care facilities and private pharmacies. Barriers to accessing health care include medical and transport costs, exacerbated by the lack of comprehensive insurance coverage among poorer groups. Service availability problems, including frequent drug stock-outs, limited or no diagnostic equipment, unpredictable opening hours and insufficient skilled staff also limit service access. Poor staff attitudes and lack of confidence in the skills of health workers were found to be important barriers to access. Financing reforms should therefore not only consider how to generate funds for health care, but also explicitly address the full range of affordability, availability and acceptability barriers to access in order to achieve equitable financing and benefit incidence patterns.