Four simple steps to practice quality improvement at health facility level
DHS Methodological Report No. 20
This study used Service Provision Assessment (SPA) and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Haiti, Malawi, and Tanzania to compare traditionally used additive methods with a data reduction method—principal component analysis (PCA).
We scored ...the quality of health facilities with three approaches (simple additive, weighted additive, and PCA) for two constructs: quality of services, with only facilities-level data, and quality of care, which incorporates observation and client data. We ranked facilities as high, medium, or low quality based on their scores. Our results indicated that the rankings change with the scoring methodology. There was more consistency in the rankings of facilities by the simple additive and PCA methods than the weighted additive and PCA-based rankings. This may be due to the low factor loadings and little variance explained by the first component in the PCA. We aggregated facility scores to their respective DHS clusters (Haiti, Malawi) or regions (Tanzania) and geographically linked them to women interviewed in DHS surveys to test associations between the use of family planning services and the quality environment, as measured with each index.
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Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET): Disussion Paper 113
This report synthesises the learning across the full programme of work. It presents the methods used, the context and policy motivations for deve...loping EHBs; how they are being defined, costed, disseminated and used in health systems, including for service provision and quality, resourcing and purchasing services and monitoring and accountability on service delivery and performance, and for learning, useful practice and challenges faced.
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The Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a collaborative partnership which supports and promotes evidence-based health policy making in the Asia Pacific Region. Based in WHO’s Regional Office for South-East Asia, it brings together governments, international agencies, foundat...ions, civil society and the research community with the aim of linking systematic and scientific analysis of health systems in the Asia Pacific Region with the decision-makers who shape policy and practice.
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The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the issues in regulating and managing international emergency in a selection of large and s...mall-scale sudden onset disasters (SODs). In doing so, it aims to contribute to several key international commitments as well as its objective in disasters and emergencies to “reduce the consequences the event may have on world health and its social and economic implications”.
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In many of Myanmar’s contested regions, healthcare services are provided through two parallel governance systems – by the government’s Ministry of Health, and by providers linked to ethnic arm...ed organizations. Building upon efforts to build trust between these two actors following ceasefires signed in 2011 and 2012, the new National League for Democracy-led government offers an unprecedented opportunity to increase cooperation between these systems and to ensure health services reach Myanmar’s most vulnerable populations.
The report provides an overview of existing health service arrangements in these areas, from both the Ministry of Health and from ethnic and community-based health organizations. It then unpacks the concept of “convergence”, highlighting key opportunities and policy recommendations for both government and non-government actors.
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The study sought to understand the factors that facilitate women to adhere to treatment and return to health facilities for routine care from their own perspective. The researchers focused on Malawi, Uganda and Zambia, early adopters of the global g...uidance to provide lifelong treatment for pregnant women living with HIV (Option B+) and spoke to women living with HIV, healthcare workers and programme managers to discover which factors and practices show promise in supporting women to initiate and remain in care.
This study found that women living with HIV who access these services to prevent vertical transmission have a strong sense and understanding of what factors support their retention and how health facilities, the wider community and their friends and relations can best support them. This report shares their words to describe how it feels to walk in their shoes on the path of life long treatment.
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This compendium collates current tools and resources on quality improvement developed by the WHO Service Delivery and Safety Department and provides examples of how the tools and resources have been applied in country settings. The target audience f...or this document are ministries of health, facility quality improvement teams, researchers and development agencies. WHO technical programmes, regional and country offices can also use the document in their technical cooperation work with the identified audience. Those working to improve the quality of health service delivery can also make good use of this resource
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SCOPING QUESTION: Which psychosocial interventions are effective in the management of cannabis dependence?
Overview
Learning objectives
• Understand the mental health treatment gap in low-, middle- and high-income countries.
• Understand the principles and aims of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme.
• Acquire an introduction to mhGAP Interv...ention Guide (mhGAP-IG).
• Learn about mhGAP ToHP training methodology and what to expect from mhGAP ToHP
training.
• Prepare group training ground rules.
• Know the common presentations of mental, neurological and substance abuse (MNS)
conditions.
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Mental illness can affect not only the life of the person with the illness, but also their close family, partners
and friends. Significant people in a person’s life are often a source of supp...ort with the illness.
However, family, partners and friends may be faced with a loved one’s mental illness without much
information on ways to deal with it and its impact on their life.
NOTE: This guide is NOT a replacement for medical advice and we strongly recommend that you or the person you care
for discuss issues related to treatment with a clinician.
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Special Report
This report of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was coordinated by Teymur Noori, with technical support from Andrew J. Amato-Gauci, Anastasia Pharris, Jan C. Semenza, Denis Coulombier and Piotr Kramarz.
PLOS Medicine | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002462 November 28, 2017
Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine
ISSN: (Online) 2078-6751, (Print) 1608-9693
http://www.sajhivmed.org.za
Published: 23 May 2018
This third booklet of the World Drug Report 2022 has a dual focus: opioids and cannabis.
The first chapter of the booklet provides an overview of ...opioids as a group of substances and their patterns of non-medical use at the global level. It also reviews the latest trends in the global supply of opiates and synthetic opioids and the availability of pharmaceutical opioids for medical consumption. Issues specific to regional patterns and trends in opioid markets are also analysed, including the opioid crisis in North America and in Africa and the Middle East. The chapter also includes a discussion of the potential impact, in the region and worldwide, of changes in opium poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan. reireg
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