Relaunch of the official community health worker programme in Mozambique: is there a sustainable basis for iCCM policy?
Conclusions: Our analysis represents a nuanced assessment of the various domains that influence CHW programme sustainability, highlighting strategic areas such as CHW payment and programme financing. These organizational and contextual determinants of sustainability are central to CHW programme strengthening and iCCM policy support. (Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Chilundo, B. G., Cliff, J. L., Mariano, A. R., Rodriguez, D. C., George, A. Tags: Supplement Articles Source Type: research
Policy entrepreneurs and structural influence in integrated community case management policymaking in Burkina Faso
This study highlights the convergence of factors needed to be an entrepreneur, as well as the role of development partner actors in creating a facilitating environment. (Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Shearer, J. C. Tags: Supplement Articles Source Type: research
Evidence-informed policymaking in practice: country-level examples of use of evidence for iCCM policy
This article explores whether, how and why evidence influenced policy formulation for iCCM in Niger, Kenya and Mozambique, and uses Carol Weiss’ models of research utilization to further explain the use of evidence in these contexts. A documentary review and in-depth stakeholder interviews were conducted as part of retrospective case studies in each study country. Findings indicate that all three countries used national monitoring data to identify the issue of children dying in the community prior to reaching health facilities, whereas international research evidence was used to identify policy options. Nevertheless,...
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Rodriguez, D. C., Shearer, J., Mariano, A. R., Juma, P. A., Dalglish, S. L., Bennett, S. Tags: Supplement Articles Source Type: research
Altogether now...understanding the role of international organizations in iCCM policy transfer
Conclusions International actors use multiple synergistic channels to promote uptake of global health policies in low- and middle-income countries, and tailor strategies employed to country contexts. (Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Bennett, S., Dalglish, S. L., Juma, P. A., Rodriguez, D. C. Tags: Supplement Articles Source Type: research
Epistemic communities in global health and the development of child survival policy: a case study of iCCM
Nearly all African countries have recently implemented some form of integrated community case management of childhood illness (iCCM), a strategy aimed at reducing child mortality by providing curative care for common yet fatal childhood illnesses. This case study describes the evolution of iCCM at the global level using the theory of epistemic communities first outlined by Haas, which explains how international policy coordination on technical issues takes place via transnational expert networks. We draw from in-depth interviews with global policy-makers (n = 25), a document review (n = 72) and co-authorship network analys...
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Dalglish, S. L., George, A., Shearer, J. C., Bennett, S. Tags: Supplement Articles Source Type: research
iCCM policy analysis: strategic contributions to understanding its character, design and scale up in sub-Saharan Africa
Pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria remain leading causes of death for children under 5 years of age and access to effective and appropriate treatment for sick children is extremely low where it is needed most. Integrated community case management (iCCM) enables community health workers to provide basic lifesaving treatment for sick children living in remote communities for these diseases. While many governments in sub-Saharan Africa recently changed policies to support iCCM, large variations in implementation remain. As a result, the collaboration represented in this supplement examined the policy processes underpinning iCCM...
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: George, A., Rodriguez, D. C., Rasanathan, K., Brandes, N., Bennett, S. Tags: Supplement Articles Source Type: research
Policy analysis--important for improving iCCM implementation; essential for success of global health efforts
(Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Rasanathan, K. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Breast cancer in the global south and the limitations of a biomedical framing: a critical review of the literature
This article calls for a social justice-oriented interrogation of the role of power and inequity in the global breast cancer epidemic, which recognizes the agency and experiences of women (and men) who experience breast cancer in the global south. (Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Confortini, C. C., Krong, B. Tags: Review Source Type: research
Does harmonization of payment mechanisms enhance equitable health outcomes in delivery of emergency medical services in Thailand?
This study analyzed the impact of harmonization on clinical outcomes in private hospitals. Analysis of 22 900 records of the dataset accrued from April 2012 to June 2013 using multiple logistic modelling revealed that beneficiaries under UCS were the worst off [Odds ratio 2.56 95% of confidence interval: 2.35 to 2.80 for non-trauma and 2.19 (1.59–3.0) for trauma, corresponding to 21.26 and 25.09% of bad outcomes, respectively] in terms of not improved or dead outcomes at discharge compared with those under the CSMBS (8.45 and 12.78%, respectively) controlling for age, sex, hospital location, triage priority code, len...
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Suriyawongpaisal, P., Aekplakorn, W., Tansirisithikul, R. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
Perceptions of usage and unintended consequences of provision of ready-to-use therapeutic food for management of severe acute child malnutrition. A qualitative study in Southern Ethiopia
Conclusion: Even though health workers provide RUTF as a treatment for SAM children, their caregivers use it also for meeting broader food and economic needs of the household endangering the effectiveness of CMAM programme. In chronically food insecure contexts, interventions that also address economic and food needs of entire household are essential to ensure successful treatment of SAM children. This may need a shift to view SAM as a symptom of broader problems affecting a family rather than a disease in an individual child. (Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Tadesse, E., Berhane, Y., Hjern, A., Olsson, P., Ekstrom, E.-C. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
Who wants to adopt and who wants to be adopted: a sample of American families and sub-Saharan African orphans
The debate between pro- and anti-international adoption advocates relies heavily on rhetoric and little on data analysis. To better understand the state of orphans and potential adopters in this debate, we utilize the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to study who adopts internationally and the status of orphaned children in sub-Saharan Africa. According to NSFG data adopters are church going, highly educated, stable families aware of the challenges faced by international adoption, with high rates of infertility and rates of child abuse half the population average. Accordi...
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Balding, C., Feng, Y., Atashband, A. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
Use of health care among febrile children from urban poor households in Senegal: does the neighbourhood have an impact?
This article aims to assess the capacity of the urban living environment to mitigate or increase individual or household vulnerabilities that influence the use of health services. The data are drawn from a survey on urban malaria conducted between 2008 and 2009. The study sample was selected using a two-stage randomized sampling. The questionnaire survey covered 2952 households that reported a case of fever episode in children below 10 years during the month before the survey.
Self-medication is a widespread practice for children, particularly among the poorest households in Dakar. For rich households, self-medication for ...
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Kone, G. K., Lalou, R., Audibert, M., Lafarge, H., Dos Santos, S., Ndonky, A., Le Hesran, J.-Y. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
Dropping out of Ethiopia's community-based health insurance scheme
This article uses longitudinal household survey data gathered in 2012 and 2013 to examine dropout in the case of Ethiopia’s pilot CBHI scheme. We treat dropout as a function of scheme affordability, health status, scheme understanding and quality of care. The scheme saw enrolment increase from 41% 1 year after inception to 48% a year later. An impressive 82% of those who enrolled in the first year renewed their subscriptions, while 25% who had not enrolled joined the scheme. The analysis shows that socioeconomic status, a greater understanding of health insurance and experience with and knowledge of the CBHI scheme a...
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Mebratie, A. D., Sparrow, R., Yilma, Z., Alemu, G., Bedi, A. S. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
Engaging for-profit providers in TB control: lessons learnt from initiatives in South Asia
This article brings together the authors’ experiences of working on projects to engage private allopathic health providers in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India for improved tuberculosis control. Motivations of and strategies required to engage private allopathic heath providers, specifically doctors, diagnostic laboratories and pharmacies, and some of the ethical issues that arise when designing programmes for engagement are discussed. (Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Khan, M. S., Salve, S., Porter, J. D. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
Exploring health facilities' experiences in implementing the free health-care policy (FHCP) in Nepal: how did organizational factors influence the implementation of the user-fee abolition policy?
Conclusions Through its detailed analysis of Nepal’s experience in removing user fees, the study highlights the importance of addressing the ‘people’ and ‘organizational’ factors in health-policy development and implementation. (Source: Health Policy and Planning)
Source: Health Policy and Planning - October 29, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Sato, M., Gilson, L. Tags: Original articles Source Type: research
