Task sharing for family planning services, Burkina Faso.

PROBLEM: In Burkina Faso, the coverage of services for family planning is low due to shortage of qualified health staff and limited access to services. APPROACH: Following the launch of the Ouagadougou Partnership, an alliance to catalyse the expansion of family planning services, the health ministry created a consortium of family planning stakeholders in 2011. The consortium adopted a collaborative framework to implement a pilot project for task sharing in family planning at community and primary health-care centre levels in two rural districts. Stakeholders were responsible for their areas of expertise. These areas included advocacy; monitoring and evaluation; and capacity development of community health workers (CHWs) to offer oral and injectable contraceptives to new users and of auxiliary nurses and auxiliary midwives to provide implants and intrauterine devices. The health ministry implemented supportive supervision cascades involving relevant planning and service levels. LOCAL SETTING: In Burkina Faso, only 15% (2563/17 087) of married women used modern contraceptives in 2010. RELEVANT CHANGES: Adoption of new policies and clinical care standards expanded task sharing roles in family planning. The consortium trained a total of 79 CHWs and 124 auxiliary nurses and midwives. Between January 2017 and December 2018, CHWs provided injectables to 3698 new users, and auxiliary nurses or midwives provided 726 intrauterine devices and 2574 implants to new users. No safety issues were reported. LESSONS LEARNT: The pilot project was feasible and safe, however, financial constraints are hindering scale-up efforts. Supportive supervision cascades were critical in ensuring success.

Unpacking the Barriers to Reproductive Health Services in Ghana: HIV/STI Testing, Abortion and Contraception.

Youth report embarrassment, cost, and poor access as barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Interventions to address barriers like youth friendly services have yet to conclusively demonstrate impact on protective behaviours like condom or contraceptive use. SRH encompasses a range of services so we aimed to assess how perceived barriers differed depending on the service being sought between common services accessed by young people: HIV/STI testing, abortion, and contraception. 1203 Ghanaian youth were interviewed. Data was analysed to identify barriers by service type, demographics, and between high and low HIV prevalence communities. Being embarrassed or shy was the most commonly reported barrier across services. Overall being embarrassed or shy, fear of safety, fear of family finding out and cost were the most reported barriers across all services. Further analysis by service indicated that being embarrassed was a significantly greater barrier for HIV/STI testing and contraception when compared with abortion (p<0.001) and safety concerns and cost were significantly greater barriers for abortion and contraception compared with HIV/STI testing (p<0.001). Efforts to develop interventions that consider the service being sought may help address the range of barriers faced by youth with diverse SRH needs.

Strengthening management and leadership practices to increase health-service delivery in Kenya: an evidence-based approach.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that strengthening health systems, through improved leadership and management skills of health teams, can contribute to an increase in health-service delivery outcomes. The study was conducted in six provinces in the Republic of Kenya. METHODS: The study used a non-randomized design comparing measures of key service delivery indicators addressed by health teams receiving leadership and management training (the intervention) against measures in comparison areas not receiving the intervention. Measurements were taken at three time periods: baseline, endline, and approximately six months post intervention. At the district level, health-service coverage was computed. At the facility level, the percentage change in the number of client visits was computed. The t-test was used to test for significance. RESULTS: Results showed significant increases in health-service coverage at the district level (p = <0.05) in the intervention teams compared to the comparison teams. Similarly, there were significant increases in the number of client visits at the facility level in the intervention group versus comparison facilities (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Strengthening the leadership and management skills of health teams, through team-based approaches focused on selected challenges, contributed to improved health service delivery outcomes and these improvements were sustained at least for six months.

Potential role of traditional birth attendants in neonatal healthcare in rural southern Nepal.

The potential for traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to improve neonatal health outcomes has largely been overlooked during the current debate regarding the role of TBAs in improving maternal health. Randomly-selected TBAs (n=93) were interviewed to gain a more thorough understanding of their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding maternal and newborn care. Practices, such as using a clean cord-cutting instrument (89%) and hand-washing before delivery (74%), were common. Other beneficial practices, such as thermal care, were low. Trained TBAs were more likely to wash hands with soap before delivery, use a clean delivery-kit, and advise feeding colostrum. Although mustard oil massage was a universal practice, 52% of the TBAs indicated their willingness to consider alternative oils. Low-cost, evidence-based interventions for improving neonatal outcomes might be implemented by TBAs in this setting where most births take place in the home and neonatal mortality risk is high. Continuing efforts to define the role of TBAs may benefit from an emphasis on their potential as active promoters of essential newborn care.

Does human resource management improve family planning service quality? Analysis from the Kenya Service Provision Assessment 2010.

INTRODUCTION: Human resource (HR) management is a priority for health systems strengthening in developing countries, yet few studies have empirically examined associations with service quality. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between HR management and family planning (FP) service quality. METHODS: Data came from the 2010 Kenya Service Provision Assessment, a nationally representative health facility assessment. In total, 912 FP consultations from 301 facilities were analysed. Four indices were created to measure quality on reproductive history taking, physical examination, sexually transmitted infections prevention and pill/injectable specific counselling. HR management variables included training in the past year, any and supportive (i.e. with feedback, technical updates and discussion) in-person supervision in the past 6 months and having a written job description. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to estimate coefficients of HR management variables on each of the four quality indices, adjusting for background characteristics of clients, provider and facilities. RESULTS: The level of service quality ranged from 16 to 53 out of a maximum score of 100 across the indices. Fifty-two per cent of consultations were done by providers who received supportive in-person supervision in the previous 6 months. In 23% and 38% of consultations, the provider was trained in the past year and had a written job description, respectively. Multivariate analyses indicated that having a written job description was associated with higher service quality in history taking, physical examination and the pill/injectable specific counselling. Other HR management variables were not significantly associated with service quality. CONCLUSION: Having a written job description was significantly associated with higher service quality and may be a useful tool for strengthening management practices. The details of such job descriptions and the quality of other management indicators should be explored to better understand the relationship between HR management and FP service quality.

Substantiation as a multitier process: the results of a NIS-3 analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on child maltreatment reporting have focused mainly on one level of substantiation. This article analyzes factors influencing the multitiered substantiation process. METHOD: The 1993 Third National Incidence Study (NIS-3) data of substantiated and non-substantiated reported incidents (N=7,263) of maltreatment were analyzed. Substantiation was classified into three categories: unfounded, indicated, and founded. Independent variables included demographic characteristics, case-processing variables, and maltreatment characteristics. DATA ANALYSIS: Bivariate and multiple logistic regression (MLR) analyses were calculated to determine whether demographic and case processing variables predicted unfounded or founded/indicated dispositions. Second-level analysis examined demographic, case processing, and maltreatment characteristics as predictors of founded or indicated status. RESULTS: These results showed that 60.2% of CPS investigations conducted were evaluated as unfounded, about 22% were categorized as founded, and 17% were classified as indicated. In the MLR analysis for the first level of substantiation, case processing variables were highly significant predictors of founded/indicated status. In the second-level substantiation MLR model, cases in the mid-range income level (dollars 15,000-29,999) had a lower probability (adjusted OR = .58, p = .02) of being founded than those of less than dollars 15,000, and reports involving Hispanic children (OR = 3.04, p = .05) were more likely than the "all other" race-ethnic social classification to have been substantiated as founded. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis of NIS-3 data suggests that a three-tiered rather than a two-tiered system is a more accurate representation of the CPS substantiation process. Further analysis of substantiation patterns is required to provide a basis for developing more effective investigation systems.