IPCHS

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Oct. 2, 2019 Africa

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Strengthening governance and accountability, Creating an enabling environment

Ghana country assessment report on ageing and health

Ghana, like many other countries, is experiencing a demographic transition with its ageing population. To provide reliable evidence for policy-making in ageing and health, this assessment report is prepared to identify priority issues on ageing in Ghana. By reviewing evidence from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) in Ghana and other sources, this document reveals the health status of older people in Ghana as well as the health systems response and policies relevant to ageing. The report also proposed 5 priorities relating to the prevention, treatment and care needs of older people in Ghana.

Aug. 27, 2019 Africa

Creating an enabling environment, Strengthening governance and accountability

Strengthening national health research systems in the WHO African Region – progress towards universal health coverage

Health challenges and health systems set-ups differ, warranting contextualised healthcare interventions to move towards universal health coverage. As such, there is emphasis on generation of contextualized evidence to solve local challenges. However, weak research capacity and inadequate resources remain an impendiment to quality research in the African region. WHO African Region (WHO AFRO) facilitated the adoption of a regional strategy for strengthening national health research systems (NHRS) in 2015. This article assessed the progress in strengthening NHRS among the 47 member states of the WHO AFRO.

March 6, 2019 Africa

Strengthening governance and accountability, Creating an enabling environment

The Governance of National Community Health Worker Programmes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Empirically Based Framework of Governance Principles, Purposes and Tasks

National community health worker (CHW) programmes are increasingly regarded as an integral component of primary healthcare (PHC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). At the interface of the formal health system and communities, CHW programmes evolve in context specific ways, with unique cadres and a variety of vertical and horizontal relationships. These programmes need to be appropriately governed if they are to succeed, yet there is little evidence or guidance on what this entails in practice. Based on empirical observations of South Africa’s community-based health sector and informed by theoretical insights on governance, this paper proposes a practical framework ...

July 27, 2018 Africa

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Strengthening governance and accountability, Creating an enabling environment

Priority setting for health in the context of devolution in Kenya: implications for health equity and community-based primary care

Devolution changes the locus of power within a country from central to sub-national levels. In 2013, Kenya devolved health and other services from central government to 47 new sub-national governments (known as counties). This transition seeks to strengthen democracy and accountability, increase community participation, improve efficiency and reduce inequities. With changing responsibilities and power following devolution reforms, comes the need for priority-setting at the new county level. Priority-setting arises as a consequence of the needs and demand for healthcare resources exceeding the resources available, resulting in the need for some means of choosing between competing demands

July 27, 2018 Africa

Strengthening governance and accountability, Creating an enabling environment

Strengthening decentralized primary healthcare planning in Nigeria using a quality improvement model: how contexts and actors affect implementation

Quality improvement models have been applied across various levels of health systems with varying success leading to scepticisms about effectiveness. Health systems are complex, influenced by contexts and characterized by numerous interests. Thus, a shift in focus from examining whether improvement models work, to understanding why, when and where they work most effectively is essential

May 16, 2018 Africa

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Strengthening governance and accountability, Creating an enabling environment

The impact of cash transfers on social determinants of health and health inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Cash transfers (CTs) are now high on the agenda of most governments in low-and middle- income countries. Within the field of health promotion, CTs constitute a healthy public policy initiative as they have the potential to address the social determinants of health and health inequalities. A systematic review was conducted to synthesise the evidence on CTs´impacts on social determinants of health and health inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa, and to identify the barriers and facilitators of effective CTs.

April 2, 2018 Africa

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Strengthening governance and accountability, Creating an enabling environment

Assessing the feasibility of community health insurance in Uganda: A mixed-methods exploratory analysis

Community health insurance (CHI) aims to provide financial protection and facilitate health care access among poor rural populations. Given common operational challenges that hamper the full development of the scheme, there is need to undertake systematic feasibility studies. These are scarce in the literature and usually they do not provide a comprehensive analysis of the local context. The present research intends to adopt a mixed-methods approach to assess ex-ante the feasibility of CHI.

Jan. 23, 2018 Africa

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Strengthening governance and accountability, Reorienting the model of care, Creating an enabling environment

An Evaluation of the Role of an Intermediate Care Facility in the Continuum of Care in Western Cape, South Africa

A comprehensive primary healthcare (PHC) approach requires clear referral and continuity of care pathways. South Africa is a lower- middle income country (LMIC) that lacks data on the role of intermediate care (IC) services in the health system. This study described the model of service provision at one facility in Cape Town, including reason for admission, the mix of services and skills provided and needed, patient satisfaction, patient outcome and articulation with other services across the spectrum of care.

Nov. 6, 2017 Africa

Engaging and empowering people and communities, Strengthening governance and accountability, Reorienting the model of care, Coordinating services within and across sectors, Creating an enabling environment

Utilization of community-based health planning and services compounds in the Kintampo North Municipality: a cross-sectional descriptive correlational study

The Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative was introduced to improve coverage and utilization of basic health services for people in remote rural communities whose use of orthodox health services was hitherto limited by distance. So the objectives of this study were to examine the extent of patronage of CHPS compounds in the Kintampo North Municipality , factors associated with their use and challenges faced by community members regarding the use of these facilities.

July 31, 2017 Africa

Social accountability in primary health care in West and Central Africa: exploring the role of health facility committees

Social accountability has been emphasised as an important strategy to increase the quality, equity, and responsiveness of health services. In many countries, health facility committees (HFCs) provide the accountability interface between health providers and citizens or users of health services. This article explores the social accountability practices facilitated by HFCs in Benin, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.