Spatial analysis of perceived health system capability and actual health system capacity for COVID-19 in South Africa

Abstract People’s confidence on the health system capability in managing COVID-19 outbreak can determine public support, risk perceptions and compliance behaviours during the pandemic. Therefore, this paper investigated people’s perception on health system capability using online survey data and current state of health system capacity to deal with COVID-19 pandemic at different spatial areas across the country. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the factors associated with perception of the health system’s capability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic at a national level and within each province. Spatial comparative analysis was conducted on perception of health system capability and density indicators of health system capacity. Findings showed South Africans had low confidence on health system capability with only two in five (40.7%) reporting that they thought that the country’s health system was able to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Sex and knowledge on COVID-19 were significantly associated with the perception of the health system’s capability to manage the pandemic at the national level and in four of the nine provinces. Overall, the findings of this study clearly highlights the challenges on the country’s health system both perceived or real that needed to be addressed as part of the preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic. Timeous implementation of a countrywide National Health Insurance (NHI) system is now more critical than ever in improving health care outcomes of the South African population even beyond the existence of the COVID-19 epidemic.

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Spatial Analysis of Perceived Health System Capability and Actual Health System Capacity for COVID-19 in South Africa

The Open Public Health Journal ◽

10.2174/1874944502114010388 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 388-398

Author(s):

Tholang Mokhele ◽

Ronel Sewpaul ◽

Sibusiso Sifunda ◽

Gina Weir-Smith ◽

Simangele Dlamini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

Risk Perceptions ◽

Online Survey ◽

National Level ◽

Public Support ◽

System Capacity ◽

Spatial Density ◽

Healthcare Outcomes ◽

People’S Perception ◽

System Capability

Introduction: People’s confidence in the health system's capability in managing the COVID-19 pandemic can determine public support, risk perceptions, and compliance to the required behaviors during the pandemic. Therefore, this paper investigated people’s perception of health system capability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in different spatial areas across the country using data from an online survey. Methods: Multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with people’s perception of the health system capability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic at the national and provincial levels. Spatial comparative analysis was conducted to contrast spatial density indicators of the number of hospitals, hospital beds, and ICU beds per given population across various provinces. Results: Findings showed that South Africans had low confidence in the health system capability, with only two in five (40.7%) reporting that they thought that the country’s health system was able to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Sex and knowledge on COVID-19 were significantly associated with the people’s perception of the health system capability to manage the pandemic at the national level and in four of the nine provinces. Conclusion: Overall, the findings of this study clearly highlight challenges facing the country’s health system, both perceived or real, that needed to be addressed as part of the preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic. Timeous implementation of a countrywide National Health Insurance (NHI) system is now more critical than ever in improving healthcare outcomes of the South African population beyond the existence of the COVID-19 epidemic.

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Public Attitudes toward Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from Five Chinese Cities

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11205793 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (20) ◽

pp. 5793 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ting Guan ◽

Ke Meng ◽

Wei Liu ◽

Lan Xue

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Online Survey ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Public Attitudes ◽

National Level ◽

Public Support ◽

The Public ◽

Heuristic Systematic Model ◽

Development Goals

Raising public awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a critical prerequisite for their implementation. However, little is known about attitude formation among the public toward SDGs at the national level. We explored this topic in China, a country that has emerged as a leading world economy with strong transformational imperatives to work toward sustainable development. Following Chaiken’s heuristic–systematic model and using data from an online survey with 4128 valid respondents, this study investigated the factors that affect public support for SDGs and explains how individuals form supportive attitudes. Our empirical evidence showed that in China, first, public support is mainly shaped by demographic attributes (gender, age, and educational attainment), value predispositions (e.g., altruistic values and anthropocentric worldviews), and the level of SDG-relevant knowledge. Second, an interaction effect exists between value predispositions and knowledge among the public concerning support for SDGs. Third, the Chinese public views the implementation of SDGs as a part of development policy rather than environmental policy. This study provides empirical findings on the factors that account for public attitudes toward SDGs, outlining some useful implications for designing policy tools that would bolster SDG action.

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Relationships among COVID-19 Prevention Practices, Risk Perception and Individual Characteristics: A Temporal Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182010901 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (20) ◽

pp. 10901

Author(s):

Lu Wang ◽

Jie Yu ◽

Dongmei Chen ◽

Lixia Yang

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Infectious Disease ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Risk Perceptions ◽

Online Survey ◽

Temporal Analysis ◽

Individual Characteristics ◽

Prevention Measures ◽

Temporal Perspective ◽

Logistic Regression Models

The effectiveness of public health measures in containing an infectious disease largely depends on how the general public is taking the prevention practices in daily lives. Previous studies have shown that different risk perceptions and sociodemographic characteristics may lead to vastly different prevention behaviors. This paper applies a temporal perspective in examining the changing patterns of prevention practices over time and their dynamic relationships with the perceived risk towards COVID-19 and its individual characteristics. Three key timelines (February, April, and June of 2020) were identified to represent the early, lockdown, and reopening stages of the first wave. Data were drawn from an online survey conducted in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Canada (n = 470). Chi-square tests and logistic regression models revealed important temporal patterns in practicing different hygienic and mobility-related prevention measures and the respondents’ risk perceptions during the three timelines. The factors predicting the level of prevention practices vary across the three timelines, based on the specific type of prevention, and within the changing public health contexts. This study contributes to the literature on COVID-19 by incorporating a temporal perspective in conceptualizing prevention predictors. It provides crucial insights for developing timely public health strategies to improve infectious disease prevention at different stages and for individuals with varying backgrounds.

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COVID-19 pandemic: Nigerians' perception about the National health system and socio-political rights

International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences ◽

10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20205284 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 4174

Author(s):

Samuel Oluwasogo Dada ◽

Olawale Ayomikun Oniya ◽

Oluwatobi James Hussain

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

National Health ◽

Online Survey ◽

Scale Up ◽

National Health System ◽

Knowledge Score ◽

System Capacity ◽

Good Knowledge ◽

Survey Method ◽

Safe Place

Background: The study investigated the knowledge of Nigerian youths on COVID-19 and their perception about COVID-19, National health system and socio-political right.Methods: A descriptive study designed was adopted using an online survey method. Google form was used to elicit responses from 225 Nigerian youths across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. A 12-point knowledge scale was used to assess knowledge, while a 12-point perception scale was used to determine respondents’ perception. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis.Results: The respondents’ mean age was 28.2±6.1 years. Majority (58.0%) were from the Southern part of Nigeria while 42.0% were from the Northern part of Nigeria. Also, 63.0% of the respondents had at least a first degree and majority (60.4%) were female. Almost all (87.2%) the respondent had good knowledge on the novel COVID-19, with mean knowledge score of 9.5±2.6. About one-third (31.6%) of the respondent reported the Nigeria health system is too weak and they desired to leave the country, 84.9% believed the federal Government of Nigeria is not doing enough in handling the COVID-19 and 45.5% felt Nigeria is not a safe place during a pandemic.Conclusions: The general perception of Nigerian’s youth about the health system and Government handling of the COVID-19 was poor. A good knowledge of COVID-19 was documented. There is therefore the need for Government to scale up and strengthen the health system capacity to handle health emergencies such as the COVID-19.

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