scholarly journals Practices and problems of female health/medical technicians in North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-260
Author(s):  
Arjumand Faisel ◽  
Parveen A. Khan ◽  
Alveena Noreen
Keyword(s):  
Rural Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
North West ◽  
Basic Health ◽  
Rural Health Centres ◽  
North West Frontier Province ◽  
Expected Performance ◽  
Health Centres ◽  
Basic Health Units

The Ministry of Health in Pakistan introduced in 1977 mid-level health workers called medical technicians to provide emergency aid and rudimentary services at basic health units and rural health centres. With the policy of placement of doctors in these units in the early eighties, their name was changed to health technicians, whose duties emphasized preventive activities instead of working as doctors’ substitutes. The objectives of this study were to estimate the percentage of graduated female technicians in the service, understand their reasons for not joining or leaving the service, appraise their practices in comparison to the expected performance, identify and report the academic and operational problems and recommend measures to resolve these problems and improve performance

The Quality of Service Provision to Newborns in the Primary Healthcare, West Gojjam Zone, North-West of Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional Survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bizuhan Gelaw Birhanu ◽  
Johanna Mmabojalwa Mathibe-Neke
Keyword(s):  
Rural Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Newborn Care ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Signal Functions ◽  
Rural Health Centres ◽  
Health Centres

Abstract Background: During 2019, neonatal conditions in Ethiopia accounted for 56% of under-5 deaths, with 33 neonatal deaths occurring for every 1,000 live births. More than 80% of all newborns deaths are caused by preventable and treatable conditions with available interventions. In Ethiopia, mortality rates for newborn babies have remained stubbornly high over the decades. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was employed. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were administered to 221 health workers and health extension workers in 142 health facilities from April to July 2017. Data was entered in the EpiData 3.1, exported to SPSS and STATA for analysis. Results: Out of the ten quality of newborn care variables, 8.7 [95%CI: 6.03-11.303], the highest mean was achieved by primary hospitals, followed by urban health centres with a 6.4 mean [95%CI:5.168-7.601]. However, nearly half of the rural health centres were providing quality of newborn care at the mean of 5.7 [95%CI: 5.152-6.18], and below half was provided by health posts, 4.5 [95%CI: 3.867-5.116]. From the seven emergency newborn care signal functions, primary hospitals had a higher mean score, 6.3 [95%CI: 6.007-7.325] and rural health centres had a lowest mean score, 2.3 [95%CI: 2.043-2.623]. The availability of essential equipment is also significantly associated with the quality of neonatal care provision in the health facilities (p < 0.05). Overall, the effectiveness of the neonatal healthcare services has a significant association with the health facilitates readiness score [95%CI: 0.134-0.768]. Conclusion: The quality of newborn care was high at the higher-level health facilities and lower in the lower level health facilities such as rural health centres and health posts; where these facilities are designed to provide the newborn care services to the majority of the rural communities. In addition, the provision of emergency newborn care signal functions were critically low in rural health centres where these are a referral receiving health facilities from health posts. Thus, the rural health centres and health posts should be targeted to improve their readiness to provide the quality of services for newborns as per their expected level of care.

scholarly journals Reviewing institutions of rural health centres: the Performance Initiative in Butare, Rwanda

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1303-1317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Meessen ◽  
Laurent Musango ◽  
Jean-Pierre I. Kashala ◽  
Jackie Lemlin
Keyword(s):  
Rural Health ◽  
Rural Health Centres ◽  
Health Centres

scholarly journals Laboratory testing improves diagnosis and treatment outcomes in primary health care facilities

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Y. Carter ◽  
Orgenes E. Lema ◽  
Magdaline W. Wangai ◽  
Charles G. Munafu ◽  
Philip H. Rees ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Rural Health ◽  
Laboratory Testing ◽  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Diagnosis And Treatment ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Rural Health Centres ◽  
Health Centres ◽  
Clinical Officers

Objective: To determine if use of basic laboratory tests improves diagnosis and treatment outcomes in outpatients attending rural primary health care facilities.Setting: Six rural health centres in Kenya.Design: Cross-sectional study to observe change in diagnosis and treatment made by clinical officers after laboratory testing in outpatients attending six rural health centres in Kenya.Subject: The diagnosis and treatment of 1134 patients attending outpatient services in six rural health centres were compared before and after basic laboratory testing. Essential clinical diagnostic equipment and laboratory tests were established at each health centre. Clinical officers and laboratory technicians received on-site refresher training in good diagnostic practices and laboratory procedures before the study began.Results: Laboratory tests were ordered on 704 (62.1%) patients. Diagnosis and treatment were changed in 45% of tested patients who returned with laboratory results (21% of all patients attending the clinics). 166 (23.5%) patients did not return to the clinician for a final diagnosis and management decision after laboratory testing. Blood slide examination for malaria parasites, wet preparations, urine microscopy and stool microscopy resulted in most changes to diagnosis. There was no significant change in drug costs after laboratory testing. The greatest changes in numbers of recorded diseases following laboratory testing was for intestinal worms (53%) and malaria (21%).Conclusion: Effective use of basic laboratory tests at primary health care level significantly improves diagnosis and patient treatment. Use of laboratory testing can be readily incorporated into routine clinical practice. On-site refresher training is an effective means of improving the quality of patient care and communication between clinical and laboratory staff.

scholarly journals Factors influencing the retention of secondary midwives at health centres in rural areas in Cambodia: the role of gender—a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimiko Abe ◽  
Bandeth Ros ◽  
Kimly Chea ◽  
Rathavy Tung ◽  
Suzanne Fustukian
Keyword(s):  
Rural Health ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Health Centres ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Background Retention of skilled midwives is crucial to reducing maternal mortality in rural areas; hence, Cambodia has been trying to retain at least one secondary midwife who can provide basic emergency obstetric care at every health centre even in rural areas. The factors influencing the retention of midwives, but not solely secondary midwives, have been identified; however, the security issues that affected female health workers during the conflict and the post-conflict years and gender issues have been unexplored. This study explores these and other potential factors influencing secondary midwife retention and their significance. Methods Sequential two-stage qualitative interviews explored influential factors and their significance. The first stage comprised semi-structured interviews with 19 key informants concerned with secondary midwife retention and in-depth interviews with eight women who had deliveries at rural health centres. Based on these interview results, in-depth interviews with six secondary midwives who were deployed to a rural health centre were conducted in the second stage. These midwives ranked the factors using a participatory rural appraisal tool. These interviews were coded with the framework approach. Results Living with one’s parents or husband, accommodation and security issues were identified as more significant influential factors for secondary midwife retention than current salary and the physical condition of the health centre. Gender norms were entrenched in these highly influential factors. The deployed secondary midwives who were living apart from one’s parents or spouse requested transfer (end of retention) to health centres closer to home, as other midwives had done. They feared gender-based violence, although violence against them and the women around them was not reported. The health workers surrounding the midwives endorsed the gender norms and the midwives’ responses. The ranking of factors showed similarities to the interview results. Conclusions This study suggests that gender norms increased the significance of issues with deployments to rural areas and security issues as negative factors on female health workforce retention in rural areas in Cambodia. This finding implies that further incorporating gendered perspectives into research and developing and implementing gender-responsive policies are necessary to retain the female health workforce, thereby achieving SDGs 3 and 5.

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