Ouagadougou declaration on primary health care and health systems in Africa: achieving better health for Africa in the new millennium

The International Conference on Primary Health Care and Health Systems in Africa, meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 28 to 30 April 2008, reaffirms the principles of the Declaration of Alma-Ata of September 1978, particularly in regard to health as a fundamental human right and the responsibility that governments have for the health of their people. Having analysed the experience of Primary Health Care implementation in the countries of Africa in the last 30 years, the Conference expresses the need for accelerated action by African governments, partners and communities to improve health; the Conference, also reaffirming the importance of the involvement, participation and empowerment of communities in health development in order to improve their well-being; and recognizing the importance of a concerted partnership, in particular, civil society, private sector and development partners to translate commitments into action; hereby makes the following Declaration.

Global Challenges in People-Centered E-Health

People-centered health care seeks an active role for the patient while empowering all other members of the health care team. By promoting greater patient responsibility and optimal usage, patient-centered health care leads to improved health outcomes, quality of life and optimal value for health care investment. This paper reviews some definitions of people-centered health care and various e-health approaches around the world used to implement this vision. The barriers and enablers to implementation this type of approach are explored. This paper provides a proposed research agenda for future implementations of people-centered e-health.

People-centered tuberculosis care versus standard directly observed therapy: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: Tuberculosis is a major public health concern resulting in high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. Tuberculosis requires a long and intensive course of treatment. Thus, various approaches, including patient empowerment, education and counselling sessions, and involvement of family members and community workers, have been suggested for improving treatment adherence and outcome. The current randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness over usual care of an innovative multicomponent people-centered tuberculosis-care strategy in Armenia.

Methods/design: Innovative Approach to Tuberculosis care in Armenia is an open-label, stratified cluster randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms. Tuberculosis outpatient centers are the clusters assigned to intervention and control arms. Drug-sensitive tuberculosis patients in the continuation phase of treatment in the intervention arm and their family members participate in a short educational and counselling session to raise their knowledge, decrease tuberculosis-related stigma, and enhance treatment adherence ...

Engaging patients, carers and communities for the provision of coordinated/integrated health services: strategies and tools

This paper (working document) illustrates strategies aimed at engaging patients, their families, and carers to be an active part of health disease management and treatment, guiding them to make informed choices. Furthermore, it outlines strategies aimed at empowering populations to adopt responsible health lifestyles and act as protagonists in influencing determinants of health in a human-rights based approach to health. Exemplary tools for each type of strategies are proposed to support the realization of coordinated and integrated health services delivery.

Addressing Violence against Women and Girls in Health Programming

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is the most widespread form of abuse worldwide, affecting one third of all women in their lifetime. VAWG undermines the mental and physical health of women and girls, violates their human rights and can have a negative impact on long-term peace and stability.

This two-part guidance note is part of a series of DFID guidance notes on VAWG. It focuses specifically on how to address VAWG in health programming, where DFID aims to make progress towards one key impact:

Women's and girls' health outcomes improve as a result of the health sector response to VAWG.

This guidance note aims to provide practical advice, tips and examples to strengthen the impact of health programmes on preventing and responding to VAWG. It is based on international good practice from bilateral and multilateral donors, UN agencies, international and national NGOs, and DFID’s own programme experience ...

17th International Conference in Integrated Care "Building a platform for integrated care: delivering change that matters to people"

The 16th International Conference in Integrated Care "Building a platform for integrated care: delivering change that matters to people" will incorporate the 5th World Congress on Integrated Care as it comes to Europe for the first time. It will take place in Dublin, Ireland, from the 8-10 May 2017. 

The conference themes include: Promoting the health and welfare of people, families and communities; Timely transitions: optimizing patient flow across care settings: Preventing and managing chronic disease: engaging and empowering people; Ageing health and well being; and Implementing integrated care.

For more information, please visit: http://www.integratedcarefoundation.org/icic17 

Strategies To Empower Communities To Reduce Health Disparities

Community-based participatory research is a promising approach to reducing health disparities. It empowers individuals and communities to become the major players in solving their own health problems. We discuss the use of community-based participatory research and other strategies to enhance empowerment. We also discuss projects from the Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities that have empowered communities to achieve positive health outcomes aimed at reducing disparities. We offer recommendations to policy makers for involving residents in efforts to achieve health equity.

The House of Care in Scotland

Scotland´s House of Care programme aims to facilitate a fundamental shift in the relationship between person and professional, so that the person is in the driving seat of their health and social care, with self management at the heart of it.

This approach supports and enables people to articulate their own needs and decide on their own priorities, through a process of joint decision making, goal setting and action planning. 

Integrated care for the inhabitants of the city Leuven: Protocol of the ZORGZAAM Leuven integrated care project

In Flanders, the prevalence of chronic diseases is high and still increasing partially due to aging of the population and partially due to other reasons like surviving acute diseases or cancer. The aim of the Zorgzaam Leuven project is to test the impact of the implementation of a complex intervention based on the principles of integrated care for a well defined population of approximately 100.000 inhabitants in Belgium.

People as Partners in Care

How do nurses support chronically ill clients’ participation and self-management in primary care? A cross-country qualitative study

In the context of the advancement of person-centered care models, the promotion of the participation of patients with chronic illness and complex care needs in the management of their care (self-management) is increasingly seen as a responsibility of primary care nurses. It is emphasized that nurses should consider the psychosocial dimensions of chronic illness and the client’s lifeworld. Little is known about how nurses shape this task in practice. The aim of this analysis is to examine how primary care nurses understand and shape the participation of patients with chronic illness and complex care needs regarding the promotion of self-management. Guided interviews were conducted with nurses practicing in primary care and key informants in Germany, Spain, and Brazil with a subsequent cross-case evaluation. 

From People-Centred to People-Driven Care: Can Integrated Care Achieve its Promise without it?

In this editorial, we argue that people-centred care has often remained too passive, condemns patients and carers to subservient roles, and as a result preserves a power imbalance that favours systems and professionals over people and communities. For integrated care to reach its full potential, we instead advocate for a deliberate shift towards ‘people-driven’ care where people have more agency in participating in their health and greater power in decision-making.

Impact of the person-centred intervention guided self-determination across healthcare settings—An integrated review

The aim of this study was to review the evidence of the existing literature on the impact of guided self-determination across methodologies in different healthcare settings. The conclusion drawn is that overall, guided self-determination proved to have a great impact on patient important outcomes and was useful and well-accepted by the majority of patients and healthcare professionals. Albeit guided self-determination is not a ‘one size fits all’ method. Continuous training and supervision of professionals are a necessary mean when implementing guided self-determination to enhance adoption and sustainability in clinical practice.