RESUMEN
Effective interpersonal communication is essential to provide respectful and quality maternal and newborn care (MNC). This scoping review mapped, categorized, and analysed strategies implemented to improve interpersonal communication within MNC up to 42 days after birth. Twelve bibliographic databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative studies that evaluated interventions to improve interpersonal communication between health workers and women, their partners or newborns' families. Eligible studies were published in English between January 1st 2000 and July 1st 2020. In addition, communication studies in reproduction related domains in sexual and reproductive health and rights were included. Data extracted included study design, study population, and details of the communication intervention. Communication strategies were analysed and categorized based on existing conceptualizations of communication goals and interpersonal communication processes. A total of 138 articles were included. These reported on 128 strategies to improve interpersonal communication and were conducted in Europe and North America (n = 85), Sub-Saharan Africa (n = 12), Australia and New Zealand (n = 10), Central and Southern Asia (n = 9), Latin America and the Caribbean (n = 6), Northern Africa and Western Asia (n = 4) and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (n = 2). Strategies addressed three communication goals: facilitating exchange of information (n = 97), creating a good interpersonal relationship (n = 57), and/or enabling the inclusion of women and partners in the decision making (n = 41). Two main approaches to strengthen interpersonal communication were identified: training health workers (n = 74) and using tools (n = 63). Narrative analysis of these interventions led to an update of an existing communication framework. The categorization of different forms of interpersonal communication strategy can inform the design, implementation and evaluation of communication improvement strategies. While most interventions focused on information provision, incorporating other communication goals (building a relationship, inclusion of women and partners in decision making) could further improve the experience of care for women, their partners and the families of newborns.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Global health agendas have in common the goal of contributing to population health outcome improvement. In theory therefore, whenever possible, country level policy and program agenda setting, formulation and implementation towards their attainment should be synergistic such that efforts towards one agenda promote efforts towards the other agendas. Observation suggests that this is not what happens in practice. Potential synergies are often unrealized and fragmentation is not uncommon. In this paper we present findings from an exploration of how and why synergies and fragmentation occur in country level policy and program agenda setting, formulation and implementation for the global health agendas of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), Health Security (HS) and Health Promotion (HP) in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Our study design was a two country case study. Data collection involved document reviews and Key Informant interviews with national and sub-national level decision makers in both countries between July and December 2019. Additionally, in Ghana a stakeholder workshop in December 2019 was used to validate the draft analysis and conclusions. RESULTS: National and global context, country health systems leadership and structure including resources were drivers of synergies and fragmentation. How global as well as country level actors mobilized power and exercised agency in policy and program agenda setting and implementation processes within country were also important drivers. CONCLUSIONS: There is potential in both countries to pull towards synergies and push against fragmentation in agenda setting, formulation and implementation of global health agendas despite the resource and other structural constraints. It however requires political and bureaucratic prioritization of synergies, as well as skilled leadership. It also requires considerable mobilization of country level actor exercise of agency to counter sometimes daunting contextual, systems and structural constraints.