scholarly journals The impact of i-PUSH on maternal and child health care utilization, health outcomes, and financial protection: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial based on financial and health diaries data

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanuel Abajobir ◽  
Richard de Groot ◽  
Caroline Wainaina ◽  
Anne Njeri ◽  
Daniel Maina ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Universal Health Coverage ensures access to quality health services for all, with no financial hardship when accessing the needed services. Nevertheless, access to quality health services is marred by substantial resource shortages creating service delivery gaps in low-and middle-income countries, including Kenya. The Innovative Partnership for Universal Sustainable Healthcare (i-PUSH) program, developed by AMREF Health Africa and PharmAccess Foundation (PAF), aims to empower low-income women of reproductive age and their families through innovative digital tools. This study aims to evaluate the impact of i-PUSH on maternal and child health care utilization, women’s health including their knowledge, behavior, and uptake of respective services, as well as women’s empowerment and financial protection. It also aims to evaluate the impact of the LEAP training tool on empowering and enhancing community health volunteers’ health literacy and to evaluate the impact of the M-TIBA health wallet on savings for health and health insurance uptake. Methods This is a study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) study that uses a four-pronged approach—including year-long weekly financial and health diaries interviews, baseline and endline surveys, a qualitative study, and behavioral lab-in-the-field experiments—in Kakemega County, Kenya. In total, 240 households from 24 villages in Kakamega will be followed to capture their health, health knowledge, health-seeking behavior, health expenditures, and enrolment in health insurance over time. Half of the households live in villages randomly assigned to the treatment group where i-PUSH will be implemented after the baseline, while the other half of the households live in control village where i-PUSH will not be implemented until after the endline. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the AMREF Ethical and Scientific Review Board. Research permits were obtained from the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation agency of Kenya. Discussion People in low-and middle-income countries often suffer from high out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures, which, in turn, impede access to quality health services. Saving for healthcare as well as enrolment in health insurance can improve access to healthcare by building capacities at all levels—individuals, families, and communities. Notably, i-PUSH fosters savings for health care through the mobile-phone based “health wallet,” it enhances enrolment in subsidized health insurance through the mobile platform—M-TIBA—developed by PAF, and it seeks to improve health knowledge and behavior through community health volunteers (CHVs) who are trained using the LEAP tool—AMREF’s mHealth platform. The findings will inform stakeholders to formulate better strategies to ensure access to Universal Health Coverage in general, and for a highly vulnerable segment of the population in particular, including low-income mothers and their children. Trial registration Registered with Protocol Registration and Results System (protocol ID: AfricanPHRC; trial ID: NCT04068571: AEARCTR-0006089; date: 29 August 2019) and The American Economic Association’s registry for randomized controlled trials (trial ID: AEARCTR-0006089; date: 26 June 2020).

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanuel Abajobir ◽  
Richard de Groot ◽  
Caroline Wainaina ◽  
Anne Njeri ◽  
Daniel Maina ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Universal Health Coverage (UHC) ensures access to quality health services for all, with no financial hardship when accessing the needed services. Nevertheless, access to quality health services is marred by substantial resource shortages creating service delivery gaps in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Kenya. The Innovative Partnership for Universal Sustainable Healthcare (i-PUSH) program, developed by AMREF Health Africa and PharmAccess Foundation (PAF), aims to empower low-income women of reproductive age and their families through innovative digital tools. This study aims to evaluate the impact of i-PUSH on maternal and child health care utilization, women’s health including their knowledge, behavior and uptake of respective services, as well as women’s empowerment and financial protection. It also aims to evaluate the impact of the LEAP training tool on empowering and enhancing CHVs’ health literacy and to evaluate the impact of the M-TIBA health wallet on savings for health and health insurance uptake.Methods: This is a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) study that uses a four-pronged approach –including year-long weekly financial and health diaries interviews, baseline and endline surveys, a qualitative study and behavioral lab-in-the-field experiments–in Kakemega County, Kenya. In total, 240 households from 24 villages in Kakamega will be followed to capture their health, health knowledge, health-seeking behavior, health expenditures and enrolment in health insurance over time. A random half of the households live in villages assigned to the treatment group where i-PUSH will be implemented after the baseline, while the other half of the households live in control village where i-PUSH will not be implemented until after the endline. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the AMREF Ethical and Scientific Review Board (AMREF-ESRC). Research permits were obtained from the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) agency of Kenya. Discussion: People in LMICs often suffer from high out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures, which in turn, impedes access to quality health services. Saving for healthcare as well as enrolment in health insurance can improve access to healthcare by building capacities at all levels–individuals, families and communities. Notable, i-PUSH fosters savings for health care through the mobile-phone based “health wallet”, it enhances enrolment in subsidized health insurance through the mobile platform–M-TIBA–developed by PAF, and it seeks to improve health knowledge and behavior through Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) who are trained using the LEAP tool–AMREF’s mHealth platform. The findings will inform stakeholders to formulate better strategies to ensure access to UHC in general, and for a highly vulnerable segment of the population in particular, including low-income mothers and their children. Trial registration history: Registered with Protocol Registration and Results System (Protocol ID: AfricanPHRC; Trial ID: NCT04068571: AEARCTR-0006089; Date: 29 August 2019) and The American Economic Association's registry for randomised controlled trials (Trial ID: AEARCTR-0006089; Date: 26 June 2020).


Author(s):  
Meng

On the basis of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey Data of 2015, the author provides an analysis of how a different household registration impacts migrants’ access to preventive care provided by public health services, such as health records and medical knowledge, in areas of immigration. This study shows that eliminating the distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural permanent residence registration could raise the rate of establishing health files, but it has no significant effect on migrants’ health knowledge. In fact, encouraging those with non-agricultural registration to move to different counties that belong to the same city or to different cities that belong to the same province can notably eliminate the impact of a different household registration status. Improving the income level of low-income migrants can have the same impact. Recommendations to enable migrants to obtain basic public health services include abolishing the separation of agricultural and non-agricultural household registration, increasing the permanent settlement rate of resident migrants, promoting basic medical security systems across the whole country, strengthening career training, and enhancing the education level of migrants.


2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-478
Author(s):  
F. Randy Vogenberg

Managed health care has changed the way health services are provided and paid for. It is still evolving. Many pharmacists have already felt the impact of these changes. This continuing feature illuminates the many facets of managed care with special emphasis placed on how these changes may affect pharmacists working in health systems. The expertise provided by pharmacists will be needed to fulfill the potential of affordable, comprehensive, and quality health care as promised by managed care. Pharmacists must understand what is happening, why it is happening, and what is likely to happen in the future. To be an active and effective player, you must understand what is happening on the field.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Liu ◽  
Hong Zhu ◽  
Jiahui Wang ◽  
Xinye Qi ◽  
Miaomiao Zhao ◽  
...  

Abstract Background By 2013, several regions in China had introduced health insurance integration policies. However, few studies addressed the impact of medical insurance integration in China. This study investigates the catastrophic health expenditure and equity in the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure by addressing its potential determinants in both integrated and non-integrated areas in China in 2013. Methods The primary data are drawn from the fifth China National Health Services Survey in 2013. The final sample comprises 19,788 households (38.4%) from integrated areas and 31,797 households (61.6%) from non-integrated areas. A probit model is employed to decompose inequality in the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in line with the methodology used for decomposing the concentration index. Results The incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in integrated areas is higher than in non-integrated areas (13.87% vs. 13.68%, respectively). The concentration index in integrated areas and non-integrated areas is − 0.071 and − 0.073, respectively. Average household out-of-pocket health expenditure and average capacity to pay in integrated areas are higher than those in non-integrated areas. However, households in integrated areas have lower share of out-of-pocket expenditures in the capacity to pay than households in non-integrated areas. The majority of the observed inequalities in catastrophic health expenditure can be explained by differences in the health insurance and householders’ educational attainment both in integrated areas and non-integrated areas. Conclusions The medical insurance integration system in China is still at the exploratory stage; hence, its effects are of limited significance, even though the positive impact of this system on low-income residents is confirmed. Moreover, catastrophic health expenditure is associated with pro-poor inequality. Medical insurance, urban-rural disparities, the elderly population, and use of health services significantly affect the equity of catastrophic health expenditure incidence and are key issues in the implementation of future insurance integration policies.


2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-356
Author(s):  
F. Randy Vogenberg

Managed health care has changed the way health services are provided and paid for. It is still evolving. Many pharmacists have already felt the impact of these changes. This continuing feature illuminates the many facets of managed care with special emphasis placed on how these changes may affect pharmacists working in health systems. The expertise provided by pharmacists will be needed to fulfill the potential of affordable, comprehensive, and quality health care as promised by managed care. Pharmacists must understand what is happening, why it is happening, and what is likely to happen in the future. To be an active and effective player, you must understand what is happening on the field.


2001 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 717-722
Author(s):  
F. Randy Vogenberg

Managed health care has changed the way health services are provided and paid for. It is still evolving. Many pharmacists have already felt the impact of these changes. This continuing feature illuminates the many facets of managed care with special emphasis placed on how these changes may affect pharmacists working in health systems. The expertise provided by pharmacists will be needed to fulfill the potential of affordable, comprehensive, and quality health care as promised by managed care. Pharmacists must understand what is happening, why it is happening, and what is likely to happen in the future. To be an active and effective player, you must understand what is happening on the field.


Author(s):  
Selma Siahaan

Abstrak Studi terhadap faktor yang berpengaruh terhadap pemanfaatan fasyankes swasta dengan analisis lanjut terhadap data Riskesdas 2013 diikuti oleh studi kualitatif yaitu wawancara mendalam terhadap pengguna layanan rawat jalan di 7 fasilitas pelayanan kesehatan swasta masing-masing 5 orang di Kota Tangerang. Tujuan studi ini adalah untuk mengetahui faktor yang berpengaruh terhadap pemanfaatan fasyankes swasta. Kerangka konsep mengikuti kerangka Green L, yaitu melakukan penilaian terhadap faktor predisposing, enabling dan reinforcing. Hasilnya adalah faktor yang berpengaruh signifikan terhadap pemanfaatan fasyankes swasta adalah usia, pekerjaan, kepemilikan asuransi dan untuk penyakit TB paru, diabetes, hepatitis dan hipertensi. Hasil studi kualitatif memperlihatkan faktor yang berpengaruh terhadap pemanfaatan fasyankes swasta tidak berbeda dengan hasil analisis lanjut, yaitu: jarak (akses) dan kepemilikan asuransi kesehatan. Studi ini merekomendasikan bahwa pemerintah perlu intens mendorong peningkatan kualitas fasyankes baik fasyankes pemerintah maupun swasta agar sama-sama memenuhi ekspektasi dan kebutuhan masyarakat dan juga pengaturan, distribusi dan pembinaan terhadap fasyankes swasta. Kata kunci: fasyankes, rawat jalan, asuransi kesehatan, Riskesdas 2013 Abstract It has been conducted study about factors influencing the utilization of private health facilities by further analyses towards Riskesdas 2013 data and followed by qualitative study i.e in-depth interviewed on outpatients in 7 private health care facilities that 5 people respectively in Tangerang city. The aim of this study was to find out factors that influence significantly to the utilization of private health services facilities. Conceptual framework followed Green L concept that is assessment to predisposing, enabling dan reinforcing factors. The results was that ages, occupation and having health insurance were factors that influencing significantly to th the utilization. In addition, TB pulmonary, diabetes, hepatitis and hypertension diseases was also significant. The qualitative study showed factors that influence the utilization of private health services facilities were not far different with the results of further study of Riskesdas 2013 i.e. access (distance) and having health insurance. This study recommended that government should push intensively the improvement of quality health services in public and private health facilities to fulfilled expectation and need of people. In addition, the Government should also continuing to regulate and to guidance private health facilities. Keywords: health services facilities, outpatients, health insurance, Riskesdas 2013


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-158
Author(s):  
Helen U. Ekpo

Unsatisfactory health indices characterize Osun State Nigeria Primary Health Care facilities and poor operational conditions. Residents patronize private health facilities with attendant payment of huge out-of-pocket medical bills. Implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), a mechanism to increase access to quality health care for all its citizens initiated by the state government, commenced in 2018. The study sought to determine the extent to which capacity building/training of Ward development committees (WDC) in BHCPF supported PHCs has contributed to the provision of quality health services in the BHCPF supported facilities. The study was qualitative in design and used three focus group discussions held in three BHCPF implementing LGAs with thirty-five (27males, 8 females) consenting trained WDC members. Prior to the BHCPF training, the majority of the WDCs were not actively involved in the management of their PHCs, as political appointees and were unclear about their roles and responsibilities to the health facilities in their wards. After the training, most of the trained WDCs engaged with their PHC staff to debrief, review the quality improvement plans for their health facilities, identified immediate needs to address, approached influential people in the community, and mobilized local resources to address identified gaps. Electricity and water supply were restored in most of the facilities, hospital beds and basic equipment for were procured for PHCs, building, and equipping of the laboratory were completed. Building the capacity of the WDC on their roles and responsibilities strengthened them to contribute to the provision of quality health services in their communities. Keywords: Access, capacity building, quality improvement, Universal Health Coverage, Ward development committees.


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