scholarly journals Quality of perinatal care services from the user’s perspective: a Dutch study applies the World Health Organization’s responsiveness concept

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacoba van der Kooy ◽  
Erwin Birnie ◽  
Nicole B. Valentine ◽  
Johanna P. de Graaf ◽  
Semiha Denktas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perinatal Care ◽  
World Health ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Dutch Study ◽  
The World

Quality of Antenatal, Labour and Delivery Services in Selected Districts in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Clara Opha Haruzivishe
Keyword(s):  
Perinatal Care ◽  
Neonatal Morbidity ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Morbidity And Mortality ◽  
World Health ◽  
Performance Standard ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Care Services

Background: High Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Ratios persist in Sub-Saharan Africa despite increasing perinatal care coverage. This suggests that coverage alone is not adequate to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Quality of care should be the emphasis of maternal and child care services. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional multicentre study was conducted in selected health facilities in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe using purposive sampling. A World Health Organization-WHO 2016 Quality of Maternal and New-born assessment Framework and the WHO (2015) Service Availability and Readiness Assessment tool were used for data collection. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) version 24.0. Results: Less than 43% of the health facilities satisfied at least three of the five Performance Standards of availability and adequacy of Antenatal infrastructure and supplies. Regarding Antenatal processes/care, an observation was the most common performance standard satisfied by 70.6% of all health facilities assessed while less than 30% fulfilled all other standards. Only 57.1% of the health facilities satisfied 5 of the 11 standards for labour and delivery infrastructure, while only 55.6% of the Health facilities satisfied only two of the 13 standards of Labour and delivery care. Conclusion: To achieve a significant and sustainable reduction in maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, there is a need for investment and improvement in maternity care services infrastructure and processes as opposed to focusing on mere attendance of Antenatal, and deliveries by trained birth attendants.

Quality of life assessment: the World Health Organization perspective

1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (S3) ◽  
pp. 263s-266s ◽  
Author(s):  
S Saxena ◽  
J Orley ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
World Health ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Summary Assessment of quality of life (QoL) and use of this information towards improvement of health care services is an important area of activity of the World Health Organization (WHO). This paper briefly discusses the conceptual basis and the methodology used in WHO's Quality of Life Project (WHOQOL). It describes the simultaneous development of instruments in widely different cultures to assess subjective QoL. Use of these instruments in the field of clinical trials with psychotropics is highlighted.

What is palliative care?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Francis Odukwe ◽  
Francis Ezeh
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care Specialist ◽  
The World ◽  
Palliative Care Services ◽  
Serious Injuries

In 1990, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised palliative care as a distinct specialty dedicated to relieving suffering and improving quality of life for patients with life-limiting illnesses or serious injuries. Fourteen years later, the WHO in its publication ‘ Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End of Life’, projected that, ‘each year in the world, around 377 per 100,000 of the adult (over 15 years of age) population and 63 per 100,000 of the child population (under 15 years of age) will require “palliative care at the end of life’. This article will discuss what constitutes palliative care, the different elements of palliative care, the approaches to palliative care, specialist palliative care services, end of life care and where GPs fit into this area. We will also be sharing tips on providing palliative care as a GP and for GP trainees.

scholarly journals Psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales among elderly residents in long-term care facilities with joint contractures

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-chang Chen ◽  
Keh-chung Lin ◽  
Chen-Jung Chen ◽  
Shu-Hui Yeh ◽  
Ay-Woan Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organization ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Chinese Version ◽  
World Health ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Joint Contractures ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Background Joint contractures, which affect activity, participation, and quality of life, are common complications of neurological conditions among elderly residents in long-term care facilities. This study examined the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales in a population with joint contractures. Methods A cross-sectional study design was used. The sample included elderly residents older than 64 years with joint contractures in an important joint who had lived at one of 12 long-term care facilities in Taiwan for more than 6 months (N = 243). The Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales for joint contractures was generated from the English version through five stages: translation, review, back-translation, review by a panel of specialists, and a pretest. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity were evaluated, and the results were compared with those for the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule. Results The Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales had excellent reliability, with a Cronbach α coefficient of 0.975 (mean score, 28.98; standard deviation, 17.34). An exploratory factor analysis showed three factors and one factor with an eigenvalue > 1 that explained 75.176 and 62.83 % of the total variance in the Activity subscale and Participation subscale, respectively. The subscale-to-total scale correlation analysis showed Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.881 for the Activity subscale and 0.843 for the Participation subscale. Pearson’s product-moment correlation revealed that the correlation coefficient (r) between the Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule was 0.770, whereas that for the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale was − 0.553; these values were interpreted as large coefficients. Conclusions The underlying theoretical model of the Chinese version of the PaArticular Scales functions well in Taiwan and has acceptable levels of reliability and validity. However, the Chinese version must be further tested for applicability and generalizability in future studies, preferably with a larger sample and in different clinical domains.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown Measures on Quality of Life among Italian General Population

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Stella Epifanio ◽  
Federica Andrei ◽  
Giacomo Mancini ◽  
Francesca Agostini ◽  
Marco Andrea Piombo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
World Health Organization Quality ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world in the year 2020 has put a strain on our ability to cope with events and revolutionized our daily habits. On 9 March, Italy was forced to lockdown to prevent the spread of the infection, with measures including the mandatory closure of schools and nonessential activities, travel restrictions, and the obligation to spend entire weeks in the same physical space. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on quality of life (QoL) in a large Italian sample, in order to investigate possible differences in QoL levels related to both demographic and pandemic-specific variables. A total of 2251 Italian adults (1665 women, mainly young and middle adults) were recruited via a snowball sampling strategy. Participants were requested to answer to an online survey, which included demographic and COVID-related information items, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The results showed statistically significant differences in QoL depending on a number of variables, including sex, area of residence in Italy, and being diagnosed with a medical/psychiatric condition. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess QoL during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, therefore the present findings can offer guidelines regarding which social groups are more vulnerable of a decline in QoL and would benefit of psychological interventions.

scholarly journals Importance of immunoglobulin therapy for COVID-19 patients with lymphocytopenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heba K. Nabih
Keyword(s):  
Passive Immunization ◽  
Immunoglobulin Therapy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Clinical Feature ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Plasma Therapy ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Background The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was announced as pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). With the increased number of infected and dead victims daily all over the world, it becomes necessary to stop or overcome its rapid spread. Main body Although the production of vaccine or even specified effective anti-virus may take about six months to a year, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) may be clinically used as a safe treatment to save and improve the quality of life of patients with a variety of immunodeficiency diseases such as lymphocytopenia, which is a common clinical feature in COVID-19. Conclusion Through the current review, it was concluded that this passive immunization may promote the immunity to better fight against the virus, so the survival of the patients could be kept longer. The efficacy of immunotherapy with IVIg would be greater if the immune IgG antibodies were collected from convalescent plasma therapy.

scholarly journals Systematic review of clinical practice guidelines for adults with fractures: identification of best evidence for rehabilitation to develop the WHO’s Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Gimigliano ◽  
◽  
Sara Liguori ◽  
Antimo Moretti ◽  
Giuseppe Toro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Hip Fracture ◽  
Distal Radius ◽  
Clinical Practice Guidelines ◽  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World

Abstract Background The identification of existing rehabilitation interventions and related evidence represents a crucial step along the development of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation (PIR). The methods for such identification have been developed by the WHO Rehabilitation Programme and Cochrane Rehabilitation under the guidance of the WHO’s Guideline Review Committee secretariat. The aim of this paper is to report on the results of the systematic search for clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) relevant to the rehabilitation of adults with fractures and to present the current state of evidence available from the identified CPGs. Methods This paper is part of the Best Evidence for Rehabilitation (be4rehab) series, developed according to the methodology presented in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation (PIR) introductory paper. It is a systematic review of existing CPGs on fractures in adult population published from 2009 to 2019. Results We identified 23 relevant CPGs after title and abstract screening. According to inclusion/exclusion criteria, we selected 13 CPGs. After checking for quality, publication time, multiprofessionality, and comprehensiveness, we finally included five CPGs dealing with rehabilitative management of fractures in adult population, two CPGs addressing treatment of distal radius fracture and three the treatment of femoral/hip fracture. Conclusion The selected CPGs on management of distal radius and femoral/hip fracture include few recommendations regarding rehabilitation, with overall low to very low quality of evidence and weak/conditional strength of recommendation. Moreover, several gaps in specific rehabilitative topics occur. Further high-quality trials are required to upgrade the quality of the available evidence. Level of evidence Level 1.

Using Employer Purchasing Power to Improve the Quality of Perinatal Care

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 103 (Supplement_E1) ◽  
pp. 248-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne G. Castles ◽  
Arnold Milstein ◽  
Cheryl L. Damberg
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Health Care Organizations ◽  
Perinatal Care ◽  
Quality Measurement ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Care Services

Large employers have become increasingly involved in helping to set the agenda for quality measurement and improvement. Moreover, they are beginning to hold health care organizations accountable for their performance through marketplace incentives, including the public reporting of comparative quality data and the linkage of reimbursement to performance on quality measures. The Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) is an employer coalition that has been prominent in establishing models for collaborative quality measurement and improvement in the California marketplace. PBGH's involvement in quality stems from an environment in which purchasers were faced with high health care costs, yet virtually no information with which to assess the value their employees received from that care. Research indicating widespread variation in performance across health care organizations and seemingly limited oversight for quality of care within the industry has further motivated purchasers' efforts to better understand the quality of care being delivered to their em-ployees. Using the purchasing power of employers representing 2.5-million covered lives, PBGH endeavors to encourage the transition of the health care marketplace from one that competes solely on price to one that competes on price and quality. This entails collaborating with the health care industry to develop and publicly report valid performance data for use by both large employers and consumers of health care services. It also includes communicating to the marketplace purchasers' commitment to making purchasing decisions based on quality as well as cost. PBGH efforts to measure, report, and improve quality have been demonstrated by several undertakings in the perinatal care arena, including research to assess cesarean section rates and newborn readmission rates across California hospitals. employer coalition, purchaser, quality measurement, quality improvement, report cards, perinatal quality of care.

scholarly journals Smallpox eradication, laboratory visits, and a touch of tourism: travel notes of a Canadian scientist in Brazil

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 777-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Palmer ◽  
Gilberto Hochman ◽  
Danieli Arbex
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Scientific Activity ◽  
World Health ◽  
Eradication Programme ◽  
Scientific Cooperation ◽  
The World ◽  
Eradication Campaign ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
International Scientific Cooperation

The paper presents and discusses the travel notes diary of Canadian scientist Robert J. Wilson when he visited Brazil in April 1967 during the Smallpox Eradication Programme run by the World Health Organisation. Wilson's report makes it possible to reflect on the smallpox eradication campaign in Brazil; on the Canada-Brazil cooperation to improve the quality of the smallpox vaccine; on his assessment by of scientists and Brazilian laboratories; on the effects of intersections between scientific activity and social and cultural activities; on the role played by specialist communities of experts role in international scientific cooperation projects; and on a Canadian traveller's concepts and prejudices about Brazil at the end of the 1960s.

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