scholarly journals Utilization of antenatal health care services and its impact on birth weight of newborn in rural area of Western Rajasthan, India

Author(s):  
Sandeep Kumar Uppadhaya ◽  
Neha Agrawal ◽  
Suman Bhansali ◽  
Kapil Garg ◽  
Mahendra Singh

Background: Antenatal care is an important component of reproductive and child health but has not been utilized to the full extent in India. The study is aimed to assess the utilization of antenatal health care services by mothers and its impact on birth weight of their newborn.Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in a rural area of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. A total of 198 women of study area who have delivered between 1st July 2013 to 30thJune 2014 (12 months period) were interviewed by pre-designed and semi-structured questionnaire by door to door approach.Results: Present study showed that 100% of mothers registered their pregnancy in any health facility and 56.6% were registered in 2nd trimester. Only 32.8% mothers had received four or more antenatal visits. Only 26.26% mothers had utilized full antenatal care (minimum four antenatal visits, minimum one TT and minimum 100 IFA tablet taken) during pregnancy. The prevalence of low birth weight was 12.6%. Proportion of LBW babies was more (15.9%) in mothers who had not availed of full antenatal care. This difference was statistically significantly (P<0.05).Conclusions: The important factors related to low utilization of Antenatal services were lower socioeconomic status, lower literacy of mothers, working mothers, parity and nuclear family. The findings of this study may be utilized by the health managers and health care providers to address the problem of low ANC coverage.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kibir Temesgen Assefa ◽  
Amare Workie Gashu ◽  
Tenagnework Dilnessa Mulualem

Background: The COVID 19 pandemic is causing huge stress on the health care system of all countries in the world. The impact of the pandemic is both social and economic. Pregnancy is an exciting and sometimes stressful experience. Being pregnant during a disease outbreak may add extra anxiety and concern for pregnant women and for those who provide care for them [1, 2]. During the initial stages of the pandemic, it appeared Africa would be spared the burden of COVID-19. However, by April 7th, a total of 45 countries within the WHO African region had reported over 7000 cases (although some place it at over 10 000), with at least 292 deaths and 612 people recovered. Ethiopia, being one of the developing countries trying to address the diverse needs of its people, is currently at the verge of the epidemic [5, 7]. Objectives: The general objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 infection on maternal and reproductive health care services among mothers getting service in governmental health institutions of Dessie town, 2020 G.C. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study design using mixed (quantitative supplemented with qualitative) method was employed to identify the impact of COVID-19 infection on maternal and reproductive health care services among women who get service in governmental health institutions of Dessie town. The study was conducted from July 1-15 / 2020. Result: According to this study, Six percent (6%) of antenatal care attendees, 18% of delivery care attendees and nearly half (46.7%) of postnatal care attendees reported inappropriate service delivery due to fear of health care providers, shortage medical supplies and staff work load. The study also showed that utilization of these services was decreased due to fear of clients to go to health institutions. Conclusion and recommendation: This study concluded that COVID-19 significantly affects the quality and utilization of maternal and reproductive health care services. The study also showed that utilization of these services was decreased due to fear of clients to go to health institutions. Ministry of health should continue maternity and reproductive health care services such as family planning to be prioritized as an essential core health service. Key words: COVID-19, impact, antenatal care, Dessie


Author(s):  
Fatemeh Rahmanian ◽  
Soheila Nazarpour ◽  
Masoumeh Simbar ◽  
Ali Ramezankhani ◽  
Farid Zayeri

AbstractBackgroundA dimension of reproductive health services that should be gender sensitive is reproductive health services for adolescents.ObjectiveThis study aims to assess needs for gender sensitive reproductive health care services for adolescents.MethodsThis was a descriptive cross-sectional study on 341 of health care providers for adolescents in health centers and hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran in 2016. The subjects of the study were recruited using a convenience sampling method. The tools for data collection were: (1) a demographic information questionnaire and; (2) a valid and reliable questionnaire to Assess the Needs of Gender-Sensitive Adolescents Reproductive Health Care Services (ANQ-GSARHS) including three sections; process, structure and policy making for the services. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.ResultsThree hundred and forty-one health providers with an average working experience of 8.77 ± 5.39 [mean ± standard deviation (SD)] years participated in the study. The results demonstrated the highest scores for educational needs (92.96% ± 11.49%), supportive policies (92.71% ± 11.70%) and then care needs (92.37% ± 14.34%) of the services.ConclusionsProviding gender sensitive reproductive health care services for adolescents needs to be reformed as regards processes, structure and policies of the services. However, the gender appropriate educational and care needs as well as supportive policies are the priorities for reform of the services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mackenzie A ◽  
◽  
Wang J ◽  
Teppema S ◽  
Duncan I ◽  
...  

Reimbursement for health care services is transferring more risk away from payers and toward health care providers in the form of Alternative Payment Models (APMs), also known as Value-Based Care (VBC) models. VBC models cover a wide variety of forms but all include guarantees by providers of services to improve quality of care and/or reduce cost. Types of risk include performance risk, contract design risk or stochastic risk (because of the random variation in health care services and costs). A form of contract risk that can be a significant driver of cost is model risk, defined as the probability that the savings calculated at contract reconciliation will deviate from the actual savings generated. To estimate the degree of risk we quantify the potential variance in outcomes in a naïve population prior to intervention and the components that could affect outcomes, using examples of maternity and type 2 diabetes. This analysis has implications for both participants in, and designers of value-based contracts.


2021 ◽  
pp. 141-151
Author(s):  
Paweł Lipowski

The aim of this study is to identify the legal characteristics of contracts for the health care services provided by a public payer, i.e. the National Health Fund (NFZ) as part of treatment covered by universal health insurance, as compared to those provided by the health care providers with public or private legal status. This issue is discussed in relation to the legal conditions for the treatment of patients on a commercial basis in those institutions (private or public) which have contracts for the provision of healthcare services under the general health insurance (so-called contracts). The discussion is presented based on author’s own observations, resulting both from his scientific studies in the field of medical law and his work in various entities operating in the health care system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akashi Andrew Rurangirwa ◽  
Ingrid Mogren ◽  
Joseph Ntaganira ◽  
Kaymarlin Govender ◽  
Gunilla Krantz

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Willem Wasmann ◽  
Cris Lanting ◽  
Wendy Huinck ◽  
Emmanuel Mylanus ◽  
Jeroen van der Laak ◽  
...  

The global digital transformation enables computational audiology for advanced clinical applications that have the potential to impact the global burden of hearing loss. In this paper we describe emerging hearing-related artificial intelligence applications and argue for their potential to improve access, precision and efficiency of hearing health care services. In addition, we raise awareness of risks that must be addressed to enable a safe digital transformation in audiology. We envision a future where computational audiology is implemented via open-source models using interoperable shared data and where health care providers adopt new roles within a network of distributed expertise. All of this should take place in a health care system where privacy, the responsibility of each stakeholder and, most importantly, the safety and autonomy of patients are all guarded by design.


10.2196/27499 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. e27499
Author(s):  
Laura Maruster ◽  
Durk-Jouke van der Zee ◽  
Erik Buskens

Background Tracing frequent users of health care services is highly relevant to policymakers and clinicians, enabling them to avoid wasting scarce resources. Data collection on frequent users from all possible health care providers may be cumbersome due to patient privacy, competition, incompatible information systems, and the efforts involved. Objective This study explored the use of a single key source, emergency medical services (EMS) records, to trace and reveal frequent users’ health care consumption patterns. Methods A retrospective study was performed analyzing EMS calls from the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands between 2012 and 2017. Process mining was applied to identify the structure of patient routings (ie, their consecutive visits to hospitals, nursing homes, and EMS). Routings are used to identify and quantify frequent users, recognizing frail elderly users as a focal group. The structure of these routes was analyzed at the patient and group levels, aiming to gain insight into regional coordination issues and workload distributions among health care providers. Results Frail elderly users aged 70 years or more represented over 50% of frequent users, making 4 or more calls per year. Over the period of observation, their annual number and the number of calls increased from 395 to 628 and 2607 to 3615, respectively. Structural analysis based on process mining revealed two categories of frail elderly users: low-complexity patients who need dialysis, radiation therapy, or hyperbaric medicine, involving a few health care providers, and high-complexity patients for whom routings appear chaotic. Conclusions This efficient approach exploits the role of EMS as the unique regional “ferryman,” while the combined use of EMS data and process mining allows for the effective and efficient tracing of frequent users’ utilization of health care services. The approach informs regional policymakers and clinicians by quantifying and detailing frequent user consumption patterns to support subsequent policy adaptations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Setareh Ghahari ◽  
Megan Widmer ◽  
Tom Heneghan ◽  
Methuna Naganathan ◽  
Thanusha Kathiravel

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulties with social skills, verbal and non-verbal communication, repetitive behaviours and atypical sensory processing. Individuals on the autism spectrum face a higher prevalence of health conditions and have a higher mortality rate than the general population. There is a critical need to understand adults&rsquo; experiences on the autism spectrum when accessing health care services to understand how to improve accessibility to health care for these individuals. The purpose of this scoping review was to investigate how adults on the autism spectrum access and experience health care services. Four databases, including Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycInfo, were systematically searched for literature exploring how individuals on the autism spectrum access and experience health care. Results were extracted and categorized into five determinants based on the accessibility framework described by Levesque et al. (2013). Results indicated adults on the autism spectrum experience numerous barriers when accessing health care services. The dimension of access most frequently cited was the appropriateness of care, followed by the acceptability of care. It is essential to explore access as it is often conceptualized as the availability and affordability of services; however, results of this study indicate the broader experience of quality care provision and acceptance of the individual are important in understanding the complex experience individuals on the autism spectrum face. Based on these findings, there is a need to provide comprehensive education and clinical practice guidelines for health care providers to help reduce barriers to providing appropriate care for adults on the autism spectrum. Efforts to destigmatize intrapersonal and extra-personal perceptions of individuals on the autism spectrum will help overcome the barriers that affect care acceptability. Further research must understand how to design and implement strategies to maximize health service access for adults on the autism spectrum.


Curationis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nokulunga H. Cele ◽  
Maureen N. Sibiya ◽  
Dudu G. Sokhela

Background: Homosexual patients are affected by social factors in their environment, and as a result may not have easy access to existing health care services. Prejudice against homosexuality and homosexual patients remains a barrier to them seeking appropriate healthcare. The concern is that lesbians and gays might delay or avoid seeking health care when they need it because of past discrimination or perceived homophobia within the health care thereby putting their health at risk.Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of homosexual patients utilising primary health care (PHC) services in Umlazi in the province ofKwaZulu-Natal (KZN).Method: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive study was conducted which was contextual innature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants. The findings of this study were analysed using content analysis.Results: Two major themes emerged from the data analysis, namely, prejudice against homosexual patients by health care providers and other patients at the primary health care facilities, and, homophobic behaviour from primary health care personnel.Conclusion: Participants experienced prejudice and homophobic behaviour in the course of utilising PHC clinics in Umlazi, which created a barrier to their utilisation of health services located there. Nursing education institutions, in collaboration with the National Department of Health, should introduce homosexuality and anti-homophobia education programmes during the pre-service and in-service education period. Such programmes will help to familiarise health care providers with the health care needs of homosexual patients and may decrease homophobic attitudes.


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