scholarly journals Community Triage of Otology Patients Using a Store-and-Forward Telemedicine Device: A Feasibility Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 014556132090895
Author(s):  
Nishi Gupta ◽  
Neeraj Chawla ◽  
Digant Gupta ◽  
Nidhi Dhawan ◽  
Vidya R. Janaki
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Smart Phone ◽  
Chronic Otitis Media ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Acquired Hearing Loss ◽  
Provide Quality Care ◽  
Store And Forward

Chronic otitis media is a major contributor to acquired hearing loss in developing countries. Developing countries such as India, with huge populations and poor health infrastructures, have always felt the shortage of trained specialists who can provide quality care to meet the enormous demand for treatment of this disease. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of empowering trained health workers equipped with ENTraview, a store-and-forward telemedicine device that integrates a camera- enabled smart phone with an otoscope. This device allows the screening of otology patients within the community. Three months of extensive training was provided to five community health workers on primary ear and hearing care, including training on the use of the ENTraview device. Community otology screenings were conducted to triage otology patients and provide them with specialized ENT care at a tertiary hospital. In the initial 6 months of the project, 45 screening camps were organized, which screened 3,000 patients free of cost. Of these 3,000 screened patients, 54% (1,619) were referred for ENT consultation and 215 patients reported. Nearly 50% (103) of the 215 reporting patients required surgical intervention, and 29 patients underwent surgery. Reaching out to the community by remote screening of ear diseases by trained technicians with a telemedicine device seems to be an effective and cost-effective way to triage patients with otologic pathologies.

scholarly journals Inter-professional collaboration in an Intensive Care Unit: Challenges and opportunities

Rev Rene ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Eveline Rodrigues da Silva Barros ◽  
Ana Ecilda Lima Ellery
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Team Leadership ◽  
Professional Collaboration ◽  
Organizational Boundaries ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Provide Quality Care ◽  
The Times

To understand the relationship between health professionals in an intensive care unit, to explore the inter-professional collaboration. Methods: it is a qualitative study, inspired by the Hermeneutics Phenomenology of Paul Ricoeur, for the production of knowledge. Interviews were conducted with 36 intensive care professionals of a tertiary public hospital. Results: the professionals are satisfied with the work, and there is a commitment to provide quality care despite organizational boundaries such as precarious employment relationships and turnover of professionals. The inter-professional collaboration is an indispensable factor for assistance, but in practice is not effective most of the times by the absence of provisions for the integration of the team, leadership presence, as well as the overcrowding of services that overwhelm health workers. Conclusion: while recognizing the need for inter-professional collaboration, professionals do their work even in a very individualized way, with no strategies to boost this cooperation.

Setting Standards for Primary Health Services

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 147-148
Author(s):  
P Garner ◽  
J Thomason
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Supportive Supervision ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Primary Health Services ◽  
Service Coverage

Primary health service coverage has increased in many developing countries over the last 10 years. The number of components included in the basic package has also expanded. This has led in some countries to primary health workers becoming overloaded with responsibilities. To maintain high quality care, primary health workers not only need appropriate training, but clear performance guidelines, as well as essential resources and supportive supervision. We report on the establishment of standards for primary health services by the Ministry of Health in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

scholarly journals Implementation of telemedicine project in Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Khatoon
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Tertiary Hospital ◽  
Refugee Health ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Care Programme ◽  
Regular Monitoring ◽  
Medical Referral ◽  
Bhutanese Refugee

Abstract While working with UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) in Nepal, I faced the challenge of managing Bhutanese refugee health care programme with limited resources. Since 1993, UNHCR was providing health services to Bhutanese refugees living in seven camps. UNHCR Nepal had received limited budget due to emerging refugee crisis in other parts of the world in 2016. As a health focal person, I was assigned to look for new approaches to provide health services to refugees. After exploring several possibilities, telemedicine project was introduced in the camp in 2016 with the collaboration of tertiary hospital, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. The main objective of the project was to reduce medical referral, which consumed most of the resources. From testing and prototyping, videoconference was considered as the most appropriate method to perform telemedicine in the camp. Telemedicine helped camp clinical staff to directly communicate with consultants in the tertiary hospital at distant and address the refugee health issue at camp level. After implementation of telemedicine, medical referral from camp clinic to hospitals in 2016 was reduced by 54.8 % in comparison to previous year 2015. Telemedicine project also enhanced the coordination and linkage of refugee and UNHCR with tertiary referral hospital. Regular monitoring visit from the expert helped to improve the telemedicine project significantly. The most important lesson learnt was that beneficiaries and camp health staff should be involved from beginning. Camp health workers must be trained on using telecommunications equipment. Telemedicine is cost-effective in refugee setting where internet access is strong. Regular monitoring and technical support from the expert, learning attitude of camp health workers and acceptance from refugee are vital for the success of the project. Telemedicine increased access of essential healthcare to the most disadvantaged communities and ultimately facilitated universal health coverage. Key messages Telemedicine is cost-effective way of providing health services to refugee at remote area where access to hospitals is challenging due to certain limitation such as distance, budget, transportation. Telemedicine not only save the cost of medical referral but also save opportunity cost, time and energy of refugees, which are invested while visiting hospital.

Coaching Care Partners Who Support Loved Ones With MCI

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry Mills ◽  
Jennifer Brush
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Educational Program ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Care Partners ◽  
Provide Quality Care ◽  
Solution Focused

Speech-language pathologists can play a critical role in providing education and intervention to prevent social withdrawal, prevent premature disability, and maximize cognitive functioning in persons with MCI. The purpose of this article is to describe positive, solution-focused educational program that speech-language pathologists can implement with family care partners to improve relationships and provide quality care for someone living with MCI.

An Intelligent Computer-Assisted Instruction System Designed for Rural Health Workers in Developing Countries

1992 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 193-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Auvert ◽  
V. Gilbos ◽  
F. Andrianiriana ◽  
W. E. Bertrand ◽  
X. Emmanuelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Rural Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Computer Assisted Instruction ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Instruction System ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Assisted Instruction ◽  
Intelligent Computer

Abstract:This paper describes an intelligent computer-assisted instruction system that was designed for rural health workers in developing countries. This system, called Consult-EAO, includes an expert module and a coaching module. The expert module, which is derived from the knowledge-based decision support system Tropicaid, covers most of medical practice in developing countries. It allows for the creation of outpatient simulations without the help of a teacher. The student may practice his knowledge by solving problems with these simulations. The system gives some initial facts and controls the simulation during the session by guiding the student toward the most efficient decisions. All student answers are analyzed and, if necessary, criticized. The messages are adapted to the situation due to the pedagogical rules of the coaching module. This system runs on PC-compatible computer.

scholarly journals Advances in Environmental Detection and Clinical Diagnostic Tests for Legionella Species

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeshwari Vittal ◽  
Juliet Roshini Mohan Raj ◽  
Ballamoole Krishna Kumar ◽  
Indrani Karunasagar
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Detection Techniques ◽  
Conventional Culture ◽  
Legionella Species ◽  
Mild Fever

Abstract Legionella is a fastidious organism that is difficult to culture in the lab but is widely distributed in environmental, domestic, and hospital settings. The clinical manifestations due to Legionella infections range from mild fever to fatal pneumonia and multiorgan pathologies. Legionella outbreaks though prevalent globally are not reported in developing countries due to difficulties in isolating this organism and the lack of simple diagnostic protocols. Here, we review the literature from across countries to present various methods used to detect Legionella from environmental and clinical samples. We compare the sensitivity and the specificity of the conventional culture-based assays with the recent methods and discuss approaches to develop better detection and diagnostic tests. With better cost-effective detection techniques and regular monitoring of the susceptible sites, which may harbor Legionella colonies, most of the Legionella infections can be prevented. As a result, considerable burden, caused by Legionella infections, on the healthcare system, in especially economically weaker countries, can be mitigated.

scholarly journals Energy Retrofitting Opportunities Using Renewable Materials—Comparative Analysis of the Current Frameworks in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 603
Author(s):  
Darija Gajić ◽  
Slobodan Peulić ◽  
Tim Mavrič ◽  
Anna Sandak ◽  
Črtomir Tavzes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Renewable Materials ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Eu Member States

Sustainable approaches for retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency are becoming necessary in a time when the building sector is the largest energy consumer. Retrofitting building stock is effective for reducing global energy consumption and decreasing resource exploitation. Less developed EU member states and neighboring developing countries show reluctance towards healthy and renewable materials. Implementation of sustainable materials for energy retrofitting is slowed down due to gaps in legislation and effective strategic programs, availability of bio-based materials, lack of knowledge regarding use and maintenance of renewable products, and marketing lobbies. Use of bio-based materials in refurbishment is important due to their negative or low global warming potential (GWP), low primary energy (PEI) need for production, cost-effective benefits, and recycling/reuse potential. Role of environmentally friendly solutions and low-carbon economy growth is particularly relevant in developing countries, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, that cannot afford innovative energy recovery systems, yet possess a significant amount of poorly managed building stock. This research aims to analyze frameworks regarding retrofitting of residential buildings in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia. The analysis tackles indirect causes, studies the legal background, and examines strategic frameworks; thus, it indicates potential barriers for implementation of recommended retrofitting solutions based on renewable materials.

scholarly journals Factors influencing the migration intention of dental and medical graduates in developing countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Hajian ◽  
M H Khoshnevisan ◽  
S h Yazdani ◽  
M P Jadidfard
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
English Language ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Pull Factors ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Migration Decisions ◽  
Push And Pull

Abstract Background Migration of skilled health workers could result in shortage of human resources and rising inequalities in service provision in source countries. To date, most of relevant papers are focused on rate and reasons of migration while the need for conducting studies on modelling of factors is more vividly felt. The aim of this review was to determine the factors influencing the migration decisions of medical and dental graduates migrating from developing countries and to introduce a practical conceptual framework for health worker migration. Methods Electronic databases PubMed, Google Scholar and relevant Journals were systematically searched for English language publications from January 2009 to April 2019. The inclusion criteria were: 1) article stated factors affecting migration decisions of medical doctors and/or dentists, 2) the source country in the study was a developing country, 3) participants’ primary qualification country was in a developing country,4) the study used primary data both qualitative or quantitative. Results The search identified 814 articles from which we included 23 full-text studies after applying eligibility checklist. Push and pull theory was the most popular model to describe the migration driving factors. Poor socio-economic situation, political instability, lack of professional and educational opportunities together with family concerns found as strong common push factors that perpetuate migration. The most influencing pull factors were desire for better quality of life, career and training opportunities and financial gain. Conclusions Despite the fact that health workers migrate for different reasons, they follow a same route for decision to stay or leave their own countries. Un-fulfillment of expectations in mother land in addition to media reconstructed reality of life in foreign land can develop a positive attitude for migration Which should be considered before weighing up the push and pull factors of both sides. Key messages A better understanding of the migration motives of health professionals will help health authorities to improve their workforce recruitment and retention strategies and health service planning. Our simple yet comprehensive framework can mainly identify the development of migration desire through combining different models and concepts of migration, behavioral change, values, needs and so on.

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