New Patterns in Health Sector Aid to India

Criticisms of health aid have largely been derived from African and Latin American experiences. It is suggested that such analyses, while valuable, cannot be applied wholesale to India without detailed examination of the patterns of health sector aid which have actually characterized the period since 1947. This article brings together material on the scale and form that this assistance has taken, and demonstrates that its focus has been preventive in emphasis and oriented towards the primary care sector. In some periods it has contributed a substantial share of total public sector expenditures, and in some spheres, it has played a major role, particularly the control of communicable diseases. However, the impact of less substantial sums going to prestige medical colleges or to population control programs should not be ignored; and several of the aid categories have been of dubious origin (PL-480 counterpart funds and U.S. food surpluses as the prime examples). However, the “new” health aid programs do not deserve the ready dismissal they have received in some quarters.

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Tracking Websites’ Digital Communication Strategies in Latin American Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17239145 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (23) ◽

pp. 9145

Author(s):

Santiago Tejedor ◽

Ana Pérez-Escoda ◽

Augusto Ventín ◽

Fernanda Tusa ◽

Fátima Martínez

Keyword(s):

Digital Media ◽

Latin American ◽

Health Sector ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

Analysis Model ◽

Healthcare Information ◽

Web Studies ◽

Media Companies ◽

Social Debate ◽

The Impact

Since the advent of the Internet, websites have become the nerve center of the digital ecosystems of media, companies and all kinds of institutions. Currently, the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic has placed healthcare issues at the center of social debate, including hospitals and their websites as digital sources of trustworthy information. COVID-19 has intensified the need for quality information and the legitimacy of sources fighting the infodemic situation. In this regard hospitals become essential social actors in the spread of healthcare information. Within this framework, a qualitative study is presented with descriptive components and based on content analysis. This study examines 58 websites from the best hospitals included in the “América Economía” ranking health sector from Latin America. The study applies an analysis methodology based on previous research focusing on specialized web studies, defining an analysis model on six variables and 65 thematic indicators. The research concludes that hospitals occupying first positions in the medical services directory are not necessarily those that have the best websites. Similarly, it is worth noting that a quarter of the studied sample do not devote a specific space to reporting coronavirus information. Brazil, Colombia and Chile are the countries with the highest number of hospitals among those with the best websites. In conclusion, digital media, specifically websites, could constitute legitime resources of healthcare information consumption, so their accuracy and proper development seem to be significant to become genuine sources that not only could provide better healthcare services but help avoid the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Reducing missed appointments in general practice: evaluation of a quality improvement programme in East London

British Journal of General Practice ◽

10.3399/bjgp20x713909 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 71 (702) ◽

pp. e31-e38

Author(s):

Tom Margham ◽

Crystal Williams ◽

Jack Steadman ◽

Sally Hull

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

General Practice ◽

Quality Improvement ◽

Effective Practice ◽

Missed Appointments ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Primary Care Sector ◽

Appointment System ◽

Times Series Analysis ◽

The Impact

BackgroundMissed appointments are common in primary care, contributing to reduced clinical capacity. NHS England has estimated that there are 7.2 million missed general practice appointments annually, at a cost of £216 million. Reducing these numbers is important for an efficient primary care sector.AimTo evaluate the impact of a system-wide quality improvement (QI) programme on the rates of missed GP appointments, and to identify effective practice interventions.Design and settingPractices within a clinical commissioning group (CCG) in East London, with an ethnically diverse and socially deprived population.MethodStudy practices engaged in a generic QI programme, which included sharing data on appointment systems and Did Not Attend (DNA) rates. Fourteen out of 25 practices implemented DNA reduction projects, supported by practice-based coaching. Appointment data were collected from practice electronic health records. Evaluation included comparisons of DNA rates pre- and post-intervention using interrupted times series analysis.ResultsIn total, 25 out of 32 practices engaged with the programme. The mean DNA rate at baseline was 7% (range 2–12%); 2 years later the generic intervention DNA rates were 5.2%. This equates to a reduction of 4030 missed appointments. The most effective practice intervention was to reduce the forward booking time to 1 day. The practice that made this change reduced its mean DNA rate from 7.8% to 3.9%.ConclusionForward booking time in days is the best predictor of practice DNA rates. Sharing appointment data produced a significant reduction in missed appointments, and behaviour change interventions with patients had a modest additional impact; in contrast, introducing structural change to the appointment system effectively reduced DNA rates. To reduce non-attendance, it appears that the appointment system needs to change, not the patient.

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The Departed

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/0002716216646563 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 666 (1) ◽

pp. 131-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Emilio A. Parrado ◽

Chenoa A. Flippen

Keyword(s):

North Carolina ◽

Latin American ◽

Population Control ◽

The United States ◽

Latin American Immigrants ◽

The Impact ◽

Economic Considerations ◽

Over Time ◽

Enforcement Policies ◽

Lower Educational Attainment

This article explores the impact of the 2007 recession and immigration enforcement policies on Latin American immigrants’ out-migration from the Durham, North Carolina, area—a new immigrant destination. Drawing on an original ethnosurvey collected in 2011, the analysis assesses the extent of out-migration over time, what precipitated the move, and whether individuals returned to their country of origin or migrated within the United States. We find that out-migration more than doubled after the 2007 recession and that migrants overwhelmingly returned to their home countries. While family considerations and accidents accounted for most of the departures before the recession, economic considerations became the dominant drivers of out-migration after 2007. Deportations also grew in number but accounted for a negligible share of all out-migration. Departures were more prevalent among immigrants from Mexico and those with lower educational attainment. Latin American migration, especially from Mexico, continues to be circular, and deportation is a relatively ineffective strategy for immigrant population control when compared to voluntary returns.

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DOES HEALTH AID REDUCE HIV/AIDS PREVALENCE IN NIGERIA?

Journal of Humanities, Social Science and Creative Arts ◽

10.51406/jhssca.v14i1.2049 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 47-62

Author(s):

S. O. AKINBODE ◽

T. M. BOLARINWA ◽

A. O. DIPEOLU

Keyword(s):

Health Sector ◽

Hiv Prevalence ◽

Economic Implication ◽

Health Aid ◽

Distributed Lag ◽

The People ◽

Development Indicator ◽

World Development Indicator ◽

The Impact ◽

Hiv Aids

There has been influx of official development assistance (foreign aid) into the health sector in Nigeria but little or nothing is known about the impact of such funds on specific health outcomes in Nigeria. Given the economic implication of HIV/AIDS, this study therefore assessed the effect of health aid on the prevalence of the HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Relevant data spanning 1990 to 2017were sourced from World Development Indicator (WDI) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database and analyzed within the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework. Model estimation results revealed that health aid had no significant effect on HIV prevalence in the country. Effective utilization of health aid was advocated in order to reduce the HIV prevalence rate thereby reducing the accompanying burden on the people and the economy.

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Evolution of Public Health Expenditure Financed by the Romanian Social Health Insurance Scheme From 1999 to 2019

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.795869 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Ciprian-Paul Radu ◽

Bogdan Cristian Pana ◽

Daniel Traian Pele ◽

Radu Virgil Costea

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Health Insurance ◽

Health System ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Emergency Services ◽

Health Sector ◽

Social Health Insurance ◽

Social Health ◽

State And Local ◽

The Impact

The Romanian health system is mainly public financed (80.45%) through the following sources: Social Health Insurance (65%), State and Local Authorities Budget (15.45%), while the private sources (voluntary health insurance and out of pocket) adds an additional 19.55% to the public funds. The shares of the types of expenditure reflect the importance of each sector in the overall health system, and trends in expenditure show the impact of financing on the health sector's structural changes. We analyzed the 20-year trend of the Social Health Insurance budget, from 1999 to 2019. The influences of the different allocations, subcategories, and new budget categories appearing over time were adjusted to reveal relevant trends. Of the 14 medical service categories and the stand-alone Administrative expenditure category, six expenditure categories including Hospital services, Total drugs, and Primary care showed stationary 20-year trends; five including Medical devices, Dialysis, and Homecare services showed ascendant trends; and four including Dentistry and Emergency services showed descendant trends. Stationary trends imply no structural changes in the health sector of relevant magnitude to impact the financing shares of major categories: hospitals, drugs, or primary care. Emerging trends related to the impact of different reforms were revealed only in the low share of expenditures categories. The allocation methodology and statistical analysis of the trends reveal a new perspective on the evolution of health sector in Romania.

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The health promotion shift into Primary Health Organisations: Implications for the health promotion workforce

Journal of Primary Health Care ◽

10.1071/hc11041 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sarah Lovell ◽

Pat Neuwelt

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Primary Care ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Promotion ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

New Zealand ◽

Health Sector ◽

Primary Health ◽

Primary Care Sector ◽

Care Health

INTRODUCTION: Reconciling the primary care sectors traditional concern for individual health outcomes with a population health approach is integral to the implementation of New Zealands Primary Health Care Strategy, and a key challenge for health promotion in New Zealand. The purpose of this study was to examine the views of health promoters, their funders and managers toward the implementation of the Primary Health Care Strategys health promotion agenda. METHODS: Focus groups and interviews were carried out with 64 health promoters and 21 health sector managers and planners and funders over the 12 months beginning March 2008. Interview and focus group transcripts were analysed thematically. FINDINGS: Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) have been perceived as both an opportunity and a threat to health promotion. The opportunity was seen to lie in the development of health promotion responsive to the needs of communities. Yet the numerous PHOs that emerged spread funding and capacity for health promotion thin, particularly amongst smaller PHOs. CONCLUSION: The failure of the Ministry of Health to engage the health promotion workforce in the development and implementation of the Primary Health Care Strategy has led to a clear sense of vulnerability among health promoters. Ideological divisions between primary care and public health have been exacerbated by the restructuring of health promotion funding and delivery. Within non-governmental organisations and public health units concern continues to surround the legitimacy of health promotion approaches undertaken within the primary health care sector. KEYWORDS: Health promotion; primary health care; health policy; Primary Health Organisations; New Zealand; restructuring

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The Perspective of Older Men With Depression on Suicide and Its Prevention in Primary Care

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000511 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 397-405 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Steven Vannoy ◽

Mijung Park ◽

Meredith R. Maroney ◽

Jürgen Unützer ◽

Ester Carolina Apesoa-Varano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Low Socioeconomic Status ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Older Men ◽

Primary Care Providers ◽

Depression Treatment ◽

Care Providers ◽

Low Socioeconomic ◽

Self Image ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Background: Suicide rates in older men are higher than in the general population, yet their utilization of mental health services is lower. Aims: This study aimed to describe: (a) what primary care providers (PCPs) can do to prevent late-life suicide, and (b) older men's attitudes toward discussing suicide with a PCP. Method: Thematic analysis of interviews focused on depression and suicide with 77 depressed, low-socioeconomic status, older men of Mexican origin, or US-born non-Hispanic whites recruited from primary care. Results: Several themes inhibiting suicide emerged: it is a problematic solution, due to religious prohibition, conflicts with self-image, the impact on others; and, lack of means/capacity. Three approaches to preventing suicide emerged: talking with them about depression, talking about the impact of their suicide on others, and encouraging them to be active. The vast majority, 98%, were open to such conversations. An unexpected theme spontaneously arose: "What prevents men from acting on suicidal thoughts?" Conclusion: Suicide is rarely discussed in primary care encounters in the context of depression treatment. Our study suggests that older men are likely to be open to discussing suicide with their PCP. We have identified several pragmatic approaches to assist clinicians in reducing older men's distress and preventing suicide.

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