Identifying and combating the impacts of COVID-19 on malaria.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of infections, hundreds of thousands of deaths and major societal disruption due to lockdowns and other restrictions introduced to limit disease spread. Relatively little attention has been paid to understanding how the pandemic has affected treatment, prevention and control of malaria, which is a major cause of death and disease and predominantly affects people in less well-resourced settings. MAIN BODY: Recent successes in malaria control and elimination have reduced the global malaria burden, but these gains are fragile and progress has stalled in the past 5 years. Withdrawing successful interventions often results in rapid malaria resurgence, primarily threatening vulnerable young children and pregnant women. Malaria programmes are being affected in many ways by COVID-19. For prevention of malaria, insecticide-treated nets need regular renewal, but distribution campaigns have been delayed or cancelled. For detection and treatment of malaria, individuals may stop attending health facilities, out of fear of exposure to COVID-19, or because they cannot afford transport, and health care workers require additional resources to protect themselves from COVID-19. Supplies of diagnostics and drugs are being interrupted, which is compounded by production of substandard and falsified medicines and diagnostics. These disruptions are predicted to double the number of young African children dying of malaria in the coming year and may impact efforts to control the spread of drug resistance. Using examples from successful malaria control and elimination campaigns, we propose strategies to re-establish malaria control activities and maintain elimination efforts in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is likely to be a long-term challenge. All sectors of society, including governments, donors, private sector and civil society organisations, have crucial roles to play to prevent malaria resurgence. Sparse resources must be allocated efficiently to ensure integrated health care systems that can sustain control activities against COVID-19 as well as malaria and other priority infectious diseases. CONCLUSION: As we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial that other major killers such as malaria are not ignored. History tells us that if we do, the consequences will be dire, particularly in vulnerable populations.

Volunteer responsibilities, motivations and challenges in implementation of the community-based health planning and services (CHPS) initiative in Ghana: qualitative evidence from two systems learning districts of the CHPS+ project.

BACKGROUND: Community volunteerism is essential in the implementation of the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) in Ghana. We explored the responsibilities, motivations and challenges of community health management committees (CHMCs) in two CHPS+ Project districts in Ghana. METHODS: We used a qualitative approach to collect data through 4 focus group discussions among a purposive sample of community health volunteers in December 2018 and analysed them thematically. RESULTS: Community health management committees (CHMCs) were found to provide support in running the CHPS programme through resource mobilisation, monitoring of logistics, assisting the Community Health Officers (CHO) in the planning of CHPS activities, and the resolution of conflicts between CHOs and community members. The value, understanding and protective functions were the key motivations for serving on CHMCs. Financial, logistical and telecommunication challenges, lack of recognition and cooperation from community members, lack of motivation and lack of regular skill development training programmes for CHMC members who serve as traditional birth attendants (TBAs) were major challenges in CHMC volunteerism. CONCLUSION: Community health volunteerism needs to be prioritised by the Ghana Health Service and other health sector stakeholders to make it attractive for members to give off their best in the discharge of their responsibilities.

Rushing the Value Cockpit.

The 2015 merger of health authorities in Nova Scotia was aggressive in pursuit of greater value. The goal was to create an integrated, accountable care network across the entire province. Years of pent-up frustration, death by a thousand cuts, declining service and growing expectations merged into a slow, insidious bleeding of support for change. The lessons learned from Nova Scotia are vital to achieving a value-based health system. The article describes some of the barriers to progress and the steps needed to achieve the goal of a value-based healthcare system for Canadians.

Challenges to achieving universal health coverage through community-based health planning and services delivery approach: a qualitative study in Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: Community-based initiatives have enormous potential to facilitate the attainment of universal health coverage (UHC) and health system development. Yet key gaps exist and threaten its sustainability in many low-income and middle-income countries. This study is first of its kind (following the launch of the Sustainable Developments Goal [SDG]) and aimed to holistically explore the challenges to achieving UHC through the community-based health planning and service (CHPS) initiative in Ghana. DESIGN: A qualitative study design was adopted to explore the phenomenon. Face-to-face indepth interviews were conducted from April 2017 until February 2018 through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis approach. SETTING: Data were gathered at the national level, in addition to the regional, district and subdistrict/local levels of four regions of Ghana. Sampled regions were Central Region, Greater Accra Region, Upper East Region and Volta Region. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 67 participants were interviewed: national level (5), regional levels (11), district levels (9) and local levels (42). Interviewees were mainly stakeholders-people whose actions or inactions actively or passively influence the decision-making, management and implementation of CHPS, including policy makers, managers of CHPS compound and health centres, politicians, academics, health professionals, technocrats, and community health management committee members. RESULTS: Based on our findings, inadequate understanding of CHPS concept, major contextual changes with stalled policy change to meet growing health demands, and changes in political landscape and leadership with changed priorities threaten CHPS sustainability. CONCLUSION: UHC is a political choice which can only be achieved through sustainable and coherent efforts. Along countries' pathways to reach UHC, coordinated involvement of all stakeholders, from community members to international partners, is essential. To achieve UHC within the time frame of SDGs, Ghana has no choice but to improve its national health governance to strengthen the capacity of existing CHPS.

Integrated information visualization to support decision-making in order to strengthen communities: Design and usability evaluation.

Community well-being refers to the qualities of an optimally healthy community life. This is the ultimate goal of all the various processes and strategies created to meet the needs of people living together in communities. We propose a holistic integrated visualization, in the form of a community well-being assessment system, as a web-based advanced tool to be used by the executive and health officers of the sub-district administration organization (SAO) network to improve decision-making in order to strengthen their communities. Data were obtained from the Family and Community Assessment Program (FAP) and the SAO in nine sub-districts, covering all of the four regions of Thailand. The system incorporates dashboard architecture and assists the executive and health officers in the SAO to achieve better decision-making for the deployment of proper measures in communities. The model was developed for the Pakpoon SAO and was applied to the other eight SAOs. In order to evaluate the model, 243 users, covering all user groups from three sites, were asked to answer 18 questions during a meeting. The overall average score for user satisfaction was 4.12. The results indicate that this model can be used for community well-being assessment, in order to improve decision-making to strengthen communities in Thailand.

Bridging the Silos of Service Delivery for High-Need, High-Cost Individuals.

Health care reform efforts that emphasize value have increased awareness of the importance of nonmedical factors in achieving better care, better health, and lower costs in the care of high-need, high-cost individuals. Programs that care for socioeconomically disadvantaged, high-need, high-cost individuals have achieved promising results in part by bridging traditional service delivery silos. This study examined 5 innovative community-oriented programs that are successfully coordinating medical and nonmedical services to identify factors that stimulate and sustain community-level collaboration and coordinated care across silos of health care, public health, and social services delivery. The authors constructed a conceptual framework depicting community health systems that highlights 4 foundational factors that facilitate community-oriented collaboration: flexible financing, shared leadership, shared data, and a strong shared vision of commitment toward delivery of person-centered care.

Antiretroviral therapy program expansion in Zambézia Province, Mozambique: geospatial mapping of community-based and health facility data for integrated health planning.

OBJECTIVE: To generate maps reflecting the intersection of community-based Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) delivery points with facility-based HIV program demographic information collected at the district level in three districts (Ile, Maganja da Costa and Chinde) of Zambézia Province, Mozambique; in order to guide planning decisions about antiretroviral therapy (ART) program expansion. METHODS: Program information was harvested from two separate open source databases maintained for community-based VCT and facility-based HIV care and treatment monitoring from October 2011 to September 2012. Maps were created using ArcGIS 10.1. Travel distance by foot within a 10 km radius is generally considered a tolerable distance in Mozambique for purposes of adherence and retention planning. RESULTS: Community-based VCT activities in each of three districts were clustered within geographic proximity to clinics providing ART, within communities with easier transportation access, and/or near the homes of VCT volunteers. Community HIV testing results yielded HIV seropositivity rates in some regions that were incongruent with the Ministry of Health's estimates for the entire district (2-13% vs. 2% in Ile, 2-54% vs. 11.5% in Maganja da Costa, and 23-43% vs. 14.4% in Chinde). All 3 districts revealed gaps in regional disbursement of community-based VCT activities as well as access to clinics offering ART. CONCLUSIONS: Use of geospatial mapping in the context of program planning and monitoring allowed for characterizing the location and size of each district's HIV population. In extremely resource limited and logistically challenging settings, maps are valuable tools for informing evidence-based decisions in planning program expansion, including ART.

Most family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or certified nurse midwives.

The U.S. physician workforce is struggling to keep pace with the demand for health care services, a situation that may worsen without efforts to enhance team-based care. More than half of family physicians work with nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or certified nurse midwives, and doing so helps ensure access to health care services, particularly in rural areas.

The role of nurses in commissioning services within primary care.

This article is a critical reflection on the role of the nurse in commissioning a service within the primary care setting. It will use the fictitious example of commissioning a nurse-led crisis prevention service in the London borough of Lambeth as an exemplar to highlight the difficulties surrounding the commissioning process. In placing particular focus on the prevalence of smoking, it is suggested that designing services based around tackling 'clusters' of unhealthy risk factors such as smoking, diet and excessive alcohol consumption may be a more holistic approach to delivering better healthcare outcomes for more socioeconomically deprived populations as opposed to previous national siloed attempts (Buck and Forsini 2012;1). It will argue that despite multifaceted and evolving roles, community nurses are ideally placed to recognise compounding risk factors detrimental to health as they work at the interface between the individual and their environment. This awareness can be used to positively impact on the commissioning process but only if greater attention is paid towards enhancing leadership skills throughout nursing, and the rhetoric of effective collaboration across agencies is translated into practice (Ham et al, 2012; NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB), 2012), NHS Alliance, 2011).

[Problems of evaluating regional integrated care using the example of "Gesundes Kinzigtal Integrated Care"]. / Probleme der Evaluation einer regionalen integrierten Vollversorgung am Beispiel "Gesundes Kinzigtal"

"Gesundes Kinzigtal Integrated Care" (GKIC) is one of the few population-based integrated care systems in Germany. The external evaluation of GKIC has a modular design and is coordinated by the Department of Medical Sociology of Freiburg University. In this article we will outline the different evaluation modules and address typical problems arising in the evaluation of regional integrated health care systems. One of these problems is the small size of the intervention population in a recently established pilot care system which makes the use of epidemiologic measures (such as incidence figures) difficult. Total population surveys could alleviate this problem, but when the same intervention population is questioned repeatedly for different evaluation modules, the danger of 'over-surveying' arises. This may lead to decreasing participation in further studies. These problems may be managed by using short survey instruments, by conducting surveys successively (not simultaneously) using time shifts, and by analysing claims data from health insurers. Another problem in the evaluation of comparably small systems of care is how to attribute outcomes (effects) to certain health promotion or disease management programmes: Since participants usually take part in more than one programme, the intervention effect is contaminated by multiple programme effects. These will have to be adjusted for in the final evaluation of the data. Finally, randomised controlled study (RCT) designs frequently cannot be used in the evaluation of a region-wide pilot intervention, so the evidence generated by such a (non-randomised) study is weaker than the evidence generated by an RCT.

[Implementing population-based integrated care for a region: a work-in-progress report on the project "Gesundes Kinzigtal"]. / Integrierte regionale Versorgung in der Praxis: Ein Werkstattbericht aus dem "Gesunden Kinzigtal"

The regional integrated care model "Gesundes Kinzigtal" pursues the idea of integrated health care with special focus on increasing the health gain of the served population. Physicians (general practitioners) and psychotherapists, physiotherapists, hospitals, nursing services, non-profit associations, fitness centers, and health insurance companies work closely together with a regional management company and its programs on prevention and care coordination and enhancement. The 10 year-project is run by a company that was founded by the physician network "MQNK" and "OptiMedis AG", a corporation with public health background specialising in integrated health care. The aim of this project is to enhance prevention and quality of health care for a whole region in a sustainable way, and to decrease costs of care. The article describes the special funding model of the project, the engagement of patients, and the different health and prevention programmes. The programmes and projects are developed, implemented, and evaluated by multidisciplinary teams.

Política de práticas integrativas em Recife: análise da participação dos atores / Integrative practice policy in Recife, northeastern Brazil: an analysis of stakeholder involvement / Política de prácticas integradoras en Recife (Noreste de Brasil): análisis de la participación de los actores

OBJETIVO: Analisar a participação dos atores envolvidos na evolução de política municipal de práticas integrativas. PROCEDIMENTOS METODOLÓGICOS: Estudo com abordagem qualitativa em Recife, PE. A coleta dos dados foi realizada por meio de consultas às atas do conselho municipal de saúde, entre 2004 e 2009, entrevistas com informantes-chave e gestores, e grupos focais com profissionais e usuários. Os dados foram analisados segundo o modelo de condensação de significados. Para apresentação dos resultados, quatro categorias de atores foram formadas, segundo seu poder e interesse, a saber: sujeitos, população, líderes e jogadores. RESULTADOS: Após cinco anos da implantação da política em Recife, só um serviço oferecia práticas integrativas. A população ou os usuários não tiveram participação efetiva e não contribuíram com a política; os profissionais de saúde, apesar do interesse em participar do processo, não foram incluídos. Os líderes encontrados foram o Conselho Municipal de Saúde, os gestores e as entidades médicas, sendo os dois últimos também considerados jogadores, pois participaram efetivamente da elaboração da política. CONCLUSÕES: A participação de poucos atores na construção de uma política de práticas integrativas dificulta sua consolidação e amplia a distância entre formulação e implementação, prejudicando o alcance dos resultados esperados.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the involvement of stakeholders in the implementation of a local policy of integrative practices. METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES: Qualitative study conducted in the city of Recife, Northeastern Brazil. Data was collected from local health board records between 2004 and 2009, interviews with managers and key informants and focus groups with providers and users. The analysis was performed using the condensation of meaning model. The results were grouped into four categories of stakeholders according to their influence and interest, namely: subjects; population; leaders; and players. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS: Five years after the policy was implemented in Recife, only a single service offered integrative practices. The population, or users, did not have any effective involvement and did not make any contributions to the policy, and health providers, despite their willingness to participate in the process, were not involved. The leaders included the local health board, managers and medical organizations; the latter two were also players as they were effectively involved in the formulation of the policy. CONCLUSIONS: The involvement of few stakeholders in the formulation of an integrative practice policy makes it difficult its implementation and widens the gap between formulation and implementation, hindering the achievement of expected results.

OBJETIVO: Analizar la participación de los actores envueltos en la evolución de la política municipal de prácticas integradoras. PROCEDIMIENTOS METODOLÓGICOS: Estudio con abordaje cualitativo en Recife, Noreste de Brasil. La colecta de los datos fue realizada por medio de consultas de las actas del consejo municipal de salud, entre 2004 y 2009, entrevistas con informantes-clave y gestores, y grupos focales con profesionales y usuarios. Los datos fueron analizados según el modelo de condensación de significados. Para presentación de los resultados, cuatro categorías de actores fueron formadas, según su poder e interés, a saber: sujetos, población, líderes y jugadores. RESULTADOS: Posterior a cinco años de la implantación de la política en Recife, solo un servicio ofrecía prácticas integradoras. La población o los usuarios no tuvieron participación efectiva y no contribuyeron con la política; los profesionales de salud, a pesar del interés en participar del proceso, no fueron incluidos. Los líderes encontrados fueron el consejo municipal de salud, los gestores y las entidades médicas, siendo los dos últimos también considerados jugadores, pues participaron efectivamente de la elaboración de la política. CONCLUSIONES: La participación de pocos actores en la construcción de una política de prácticas integradoras dificulta su consolidación y amplia la distancia entre formulación e implementación, perjudicando el alcance de los resultados esperados.

Integrative practice policy in Recife, northeastern Brazil: an analysis of stakeholder involvement.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the involvement of stakeholders in the implementation of a local policy of integrative practices. METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES: Qualitative study conducted in the city of Recife, Northeastern Brazil. Data was collected from local health board records between 2004 and 2009, interviews with managers and key informants and focus groups with providers and users. The analysis was performed using the condensation of meaning model. The results were grouped into four categories of stakeholders according to their influence and interest, namely: subjects; population; leaders; and players. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS: Five years after the policy was implemented in Recife, only a single service offered integrative practices. The population, or users, did not have any effective involvement and did not make any contributions to the policy, and health providers, despite their willingness to participate in the process, were not involved. The leaders included the local health board, managers and medical organizations; the latter two were also players as they were effectively involved in the formulation of the policy. CONCLUSIONS: The involvement of few stakeholders in the formulation of an integrative practice policy makes it difficult its implementation and widens the gap between formulation and implementation, hindering the achievement of expected results.

Local wisdom and health promotion: barrier or catalyst?

The respectful, appropriate use of local wisdom (LW) in health promotion increases penetration and longevity of positive behavior change. Collaborations based on mutual respect, flexibility and trust between health program organizers, traditional and local practitioners, and the communities being served are the goal for public health physicians in our modern, globalized world. This meta-analysis reviewed literature from the past 18 years drawn from a wide range of sources. This investigations proposes a grassroots, material shift toward regarding health promotion interventions as partnerships when planning, executing, and evaluating health promotion projects. This holistic approach would be based on the premise that LW is equal to expert opinion. This article endorses the integration of LW at every stage of the health promotion process concluding that it is through empowerment and involvement of local communities, their culture and specific environmental conditions that best-practice health promotion can be achieved.

Progress in addressing disparities through comprehensive cancer control.

Cancer-related disparities are the significant differences in cancer incidence, cancer prevalence, cancer death, cancer survivorship, and burden of cancer or related health conditions that exist disproportionately in certain populations compared with the general population with respect to variables like race, ethnicity, and geography. The emergence of comprehensive cancer control efforts provides a framework to address the unequal disease burden felt by these groups. This article illustrates four distinct programs uniquely designed to fit at-risk populations. Specific examples are given that demonstrate a significant impact on the full range of the cancer care continuum. Although measureable progress has been made to improve prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer throughout the United States, many populations remain underserved, impeding our ability to achieve national healthcare goals. Here, we reemphasize the need to sustain this progress through use of partnerships, technology, and policy.

Strategies to improve indigenous access for urban and regional populations to health services.

Lack of appropriate health service provision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait people still remains and important social determinant of ill health. Historically, health services have been absent or inappropriate. Cultural factors, financial factors and distance from health services have been important barriers limiting Indigenous access to mainstream health services. The Inala Indigenous Health Service, a mainstream health service has been able to improve Indigenous access from 12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients in 1995 to 4000 patients in 2009, and approximately 1200 doctor consultations each month. Community consultation and participation were the main ingredients to improving indigenous access to the service. With improved access the Inala Indigenous Health Service has been able to analyse 413 Adult Health Checks aged 15-54 years. The Adult Health Checks provide an opportunity to evaluate health status, identifying chronic disease risk factors and for implementing preventive care. The Inala Indigenous Health Service has access to the Healthy for Life Program, a Commonwealth funded quality improvement program that has improved health outcomes for patients over the past three years. All primary health care services working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health settings should have access to funded continuous quality improvement activities.

The effect of a public health card program on the supply of health care.

The supply-side responsiveness to public programs targeted to consumers is not widely studied. However, it is unlikely that supply variables remain constant, particularly when their link to the demand initiative is weak. The aim of this study is to provide such analysis, using the experience of the Indonesian health card program, which is a demand-sided program. Without an increase in staff or an appropriate salary revision, the salary payment system of the public sector may not adequately reward the existing health workers, lowering their incentives to maintain their public position. Using data from the Indonesian Family Life Surveys on public health centres, the leading providers of outpatient services in the public sector, this study found some evidence that the health card program resulted in a reduction in the number of full-time GPs working in these facilities. Other conditions not related to workers' compensation, such as infrastructure conditions and registration fees, were not adversely affected. Identification of this program's effect is achieved by variations in time and the intensity of health card distribution across communities. The findings highlight the importance of public policy management in general, and sheds light on physicians' behaviour in developing countries, about which we know very little.

Holistic and sustainable health improvement: the contribution of the settings-based approach to health promotion.

Highlighting the need for holistic and sustainable health improvement, this paper starts by reviewing the origins, history and conceptualization of the settings approach to health promotion. It then takes stock of current practice both internationally and nationally, noting its continuing importance worldwide and its inconsistent profile and utilization across the four UK countries. It goes on to explore the applicability and future development of settings-based health promotion in relation to three key issues: inequalities and inclusion; place-shaping and systems-based responses to complex problems. Concluding that the settings approach remains highly relevant to 21st century public health, the paper calls on the new "Royal" to provide much-needed leadership, thereby placing settings-based health promotion firmly on the national agenda across the whole of the UK.