Journal Articles

Definitions of advanced nursing practice abound, yet little has been published concerning the context for advanced nursing in sub-Saharan Africa. This study set out to explore the existence of, and potential for, advanced nursing practice in Kenya. [from abstract]

This study investigated whether increased numbers of primary healthcare clinical consultations in Indigenous communities in some remote areas of Australia are associated with the reduced need for urgent medical evacuations and remote telephone consultations. [from abstract]

In striving for Universal Health Coverage, Jo Kemp advocates for a well-rounded assessment of health financing options. [from resource]

Healthcare systems worldwide are changing and the use of complementary, alternative and traditional medicine (CAM) form part of this transformation. South Africa has a large number of CAM practitioners, but they are not included in the official healthcare system. The aim of this study was to determine the perception and usage of CAM among the academic and administrative staff of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein, South Africa. [from abstract]

A series of team-building activities were conducted on a medical-surgical unit and their impact on staff’s communication and job satisfaction was examined. Forty-four unit personnel participated in the interventions. Staff communication and job satisfaction were measured before and after the intervention. The findings linked team-building activities with improved staff communication and job satisfaction. [from abstract]

The objective of this research was to analyze the organizational culture of a Brazilian public hospital. It is a descriptive study with quantitative approach of data, developed in a public hospital of São Paulo State, Brazil. [from abstract]

While it is recognised that effective health care teams are associated with quality patient care, the literature is comparatively sparse in defining the outcomes of effective teamwork. This literature review of the range of organisational, team and individual benefits of teamwork complements an earlier article which summarised the antecedent conditions for (input) and team processes (throughput) of effective teams. This article summarises the evidence for a range of outcome measures of effective teams. [from abstract]

In this study, an intervention to enhance teamwork and staff engagement was tested on a medical unit in an acute care hospital. The results showed that the intervention resulted in a significantly lower patient fall rate, staff ratings of improved teamwork on the unit, and lower staff turnover and vacancy rates. Patient satisfaction ratings approached, but did not reach, statistical significance. [from abstract]

This review examines current research on teamwork in highly dynamic domains of healthcare such as operating rooms, intensive care, emergency medicine, or trauma and resuscitation teams with a focus on aspects relevant to the quality and safety of patient care. [from abstract]

We examined associations between transdisciplinary collaboration, evidence-based practice, and primary care and public health services integration in Brazil’s Family Health Strategy. We aimed to identify practices that facilitate service integration and evidence-based practice. [from abstract]

The objective of this TAT [Think and Action Tank] initiative was to synthesize existing knowledge and experience with child rights, health equity and social justice into a conceptual and operational framework and tool to translate the principles and norms of human and child rights, health equity, and social justice into child health practice. [from executive summary]

The aim of this study was to analyse the existing databases on health workforce in
Botswana in order to quantify the human resources for health.

Immediate and exclusive initiation of breastfeeding after delivery have been associated with better neonatal survival and child health and are recommended by the WHO. We report impact on early infant feeding practices from the PROMISE-EBF trial. [from abstract]

The Partnership for Reviving Routine Immunization in Northern Nigeria - Maternal, Newborn and Child Health initiative supports efforts by the government of Nigeria to bridge primary health care (PHC) policies and services at three levels of government: federal, state and local. The paper suggests that understandings informed by complexity theory and complex adaptive systems have been helpful in shaping policy and programme design across these levels. [from abstract]

India faces enormous challenge in human resources for health care delivery system. Geographical misdistribution and urban-rural health worker deficit impedes the progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goals. Many rural Indians receive health care from unqualified providers. Rational distribution and retention of qualified providers in rural and remote areas is a daunting task for the government. Little attention is paid in public medical institutions for the real health needs of the community. [from abstract]

This chapter gives an account of one relatively modest but effective intervention in an orthopaedic outpatient clinic at the New Somerset Hospital (NSH) in Cape Town in 2013. This project aimed to reduce patient waiting times in the clinic, and improve patient satisfaction. [from introduction]

As limited information has emanated from government as to the role of the private health sector in the National Health Insurance (NHI), this chapter directs the enquiry towards the private health sector in order to establish what it perceives as its role in a post-reform healthcare industry. [from abstract]

This chapter reviews progress made by the health sector in implementing the eHealth Strategy 2012–2016, which was approved by the Ministry of Health and published in July 2012. The finalisation of this Strategy following
several attempts, and its placement in the public domain, created optimism that a clear vision for improving health information systems in South Africa had been successfully articulated. [from introduction]

Voluntary family planning is one of the most efficacious and cost-effective means of improving individual health,
gender equity, family well-being, and national development. Increasing contraceptive use and reducing unmet
need for family planning are central to improving maternal health (UN Millennium Development Goal 5).

Contraceptive implants are extremely effective, long acting, and suitable for nearly all women—to delay, space, or limit pregnancies—and they are increasingly popular. Now, markedly reduced prices and innovative service delivery models using dedicated non-physician service providers offer a historic opportunity to help satisfy women’s growing need for family planning. [from abstract]

High contraceptive discontinuation in the past has contributed tens of millions of cases of unmet need, and discontinuation among current users will contribute even more cases in the future. Enabling past users with unmet need to resume use and encouraging current users to continue use of the same or another method could be an effective strategy to reduce future unmet need. [from abstract]

The achievement of universal health coverage (UHC) in emerging economies is a high priority within the global community. This timely study uses standardized national population data collected from adults aged 50 and older in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation, and South Africa. The objective is to describe health care utilization and measure association between inpatient and outpatient service use and patient characteristics in these six low- and middle-income countries. [from abstract]

Community health workers (CHWs) form a vital link between the community and the health department in several countries. In India, since 2005 this role is largely being played by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), who are village-level female workers. Though ASHAs primarily work for the health department, in a model being tested in Rajasthan they support two government departments. Focusing on the ASHA in this new role as a link worker between two departments, this paper examines factors associated with her work performance from a multi-stakeholder perspective. [from abstract]

Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute, has suggested that ‘Mobile phones and wireless internet end isolation, and will therefore prove to be the most transformative technology of economic development of our time’. The mHealth community believes that this extends to healthcare. This review aims to summarise and assess the evidence of impacts that mobile technologies have had on improving health in countries categorised by the World Bank as low- and middle-income (LMICs), through mHealth (mobile health) interventions. [from abstract]

Our research brings mixed findings on the effectiveness of user fee subsidisation as a strategy to increase the utilisation of services. Future work should focus on feasibility issues associated with the removal or reduction of user fees and how to sustain its effects on utilisation in the longer term. [from abstract]

A comprehensive health care services requires effective human resource (HR) management policy to ensure organizational success. Government is primarily concerned with the size of the workforce rather than the contemporary HR practices. This resulted into lack of attention to HR management in health sector. [from abstract]

This study focused on the 47 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. The specific objectives were to prepare a synthesis on the situation of health systems’ components, to analyse the correlation between the interventions related to the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and some health systems’ components and to provide overview of four major thrusts for progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). [from abstract]

This article aims to shed additional light on this issue by analyzing data drawn from recent Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 63 developing countries. The first section reviews general levels and trends in unmet need, demand, and use over the course of the fertility transition. The second section presents different types of evidence of program effects, including results from a controlled experiment and from country case studies. The evidence indicates a program impact on both unmet need and demand.

A major challenge in monitoring universal health coverage (UHC) is identifying an indicator that can adequately capture the multiple components underlying the UHC initiative. Effective coverage, which unites individual and intervention characteristics into a single metric, offers a direct and flexible means to measure health system performance at different levels. We view effective coverage as a relevant and actionable metric for tracking progress towards achieving UHC.

The objective of the prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (pMTCT) cascade analysis tool is to
provide frontline health managers at the facility level with the means to rapidly, independently and quantitatively
track patient flows through the pMTCT cascade, and readily identify priority areas for clinic-level improvement
interventions. [from abstract]