Patient and community experiences of tuberculosis diagnosis and care within a community-based intervention in Ethiopia: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The Ethiopian TB control programme relies on passive case finding of TB cases. The predominantly rural-based population in Ethiopia has limited access to health facilities creating barriers to TB services. An intervention package aimed to bring TB diagnosis and treatment services closer to communities has been implemented through partnership with health extension workers (HEWs). They undertook advocacy, communication and social mobilization (ACSM) activities, identified symptomatic individuals, collected sputum, prepared smears and fixed slides at community level. Field supervisors supported HEWs by delivering smeared slides to the laboratory, feeding back results to the HEWs and following up smear-negative cases. Patients diagnosed with TB initiated treatment in the community, they were supported by supervisors and HEWs through the local health post. Case notification increased from 64 to 127/100,000 population/year. METHODS: This qualitative study assessed community members' treatment seeking behaviour and their perceptions of the intervention. In-depth interviews (n=36) were undertaken with participants in six districts. Participants were clients of the community-based intervention, currently on TB treatment or those screened negative for TB. Transcripts were translated to English and a thematic analytical framework was developed guided by the different steps symptomatic individuals take within the intervention package. Coding was done and queries run using NVivo software. RESULTS: Prior to the intervention many patients with chronic cough did not access TB services. Participants described difficulties they faced in accessing district level health facilities that required travel outside their communities. Giving sputum samples and receiving results from within their home communities was appreciated by all participants. The intervention had a high level of acceptability; particularly clear benefits emerged for poor women and men and those too weak to travel. Some participants appeared to prefer a diagnosis of TB, this is likely because receiving a negative smear microscopy result brought further uncertainty and necessitated seeking further investigation. CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence rural populations with high levels of poverty, and in particular women, are at high risk of unmet health needs and undiagnosed TB. Embedding TB services within communities was an acceptable approach for vulnerable groups experiencing poor access to health facilities. In the Ethiopian context this approach can facilitate early diagnosis and improve treatment outcomes.

Exploring providers' perspectives of a community based TB approach in Southern Ethiopia: implication for community based approaches.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in the role of close-to-community providers in supporting universal health coverage, but questions remain about the best approaches to supporting and motivating these providers, and the optimal package they can deliver indifferent contexts and support required. We report on the experiences of different health providers involved in a community based intervention to support access to tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment in Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: The aim of the study is to explore the experiences of health providers in delivering a community-based tuberculosis package in southern Ethiopia and to draw lessons for community-based programmes. A qualitative methodology was used. Methods included in-depth interviews (IDIs, n= 37) with all health provider groups: Community health promoters (CHPs), health extension workers (HEWs), district supervisors and laboratory technicians were undertaken to obtain a detailed understanding of the experiences of providers in the community based tuberculosis package. These were complemented with cadre specific focus group discussions (n= 3). We used the framework approach for qualitative analysis. RESULTS: The key theme that emerged was the positive impact the community-based intervention had on vulnerable groups' access to diagnosis, care and treatment for tuberculosis. Providers found the positive feedback from, and visible impact on, communities very motivating. Other themes related to motivation and performance included supervision and support; learning new skills; team problem solving/ addressing challenges and incentives. Against the backdrop of the Ethiopian Health Extension Programme (HEP), HEWs were successfully able to take on new tasks (collecting sputum and preparing smears) with additional training and appropriate support from supervisors, laboratory technicians and CHPs. CONCLUSION: All categories of providers were motivated by the high visible impact of the community-based intervention on poor and vulnerable communities and households. HEWs role in the community-based intervention was supported and facilitated through the structures and processes established within the community-based intervention and the broader nation-wide Health Extension Programme. Within community based approaches there is need to develop context embedded strategies to support, sustain and motivate this critical cadre who play a pivotal role in linking health systems and rural communities.

Innovative community-based approaches doubled tuberculosis case notification and improve treatment outcome in Southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: TB Control Programmes rely on passive case-finding to detect cases. TB notification remains low in Ethiopia despite major expansion of health services. Poor rural communities face many barriers to service access. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A community-based intervention package was implemented in Sidama zone, Ethiopia. The package included advocacy, training, engaging stakeholders and communities and active case-finding by female Health Extension Workers (HEWs) at village level. HEWs conducted house-to-house visits, identified individuals with a cough for two or more weeks, with or without other symptoms, collected sputum, prepared smears and supervised treatment. Supervisors transported smears for microscopy, started treatment, screened contacts and initiated Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for children. Outcomes were compared with the pre-implementation period and a control zone. Qualitative research was conducted to understand community and provider perceptions and experiences. HEWs screened 49,857 symptomatic individuals (60% women) from October 2010 to December 2011. 2,262 (4·5%) had smear-positive TB (53% women). Case notification increased from 64 to 127/100,000 population/year resulting in 5,090 PTB+ and 7,071 cases of all forms of TB. Of 8,005 contacts visited, 1,949 were symptomatic, 1,290 symptomatic were tested and 69 diagnosed with TB. 1,080 children received IPT. Treatment success for smear-positive TB increased from 77% to 93% and treatment default decreased from 11% to 3%. Service users and providers found the intervention package highly acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: Community-based interventions made TB diagnostic and treatment services more accessible to the poor, women, elderly and children, doubling the notification rate and improving treatment outcome. This approach could improve TB diagnosis and treatment in other high burden settings.