Organizing and Delivering High Quality Care for Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases in the Americas
Mainstreaming Persons with Disabilities into Society
This research report provides results from the study of living conditions
among people with disabilities in Lesotho. Comparisons are made
between disabled and non-disabled in household level and individual
level. Disability was defined as limitation to perform certain activities that
was measure...d according to the Washington City Group questions.
Results obtained in Lesotho are also compared to those obtained in
earlier studies carried out in Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe
and Malawi. The Lesotho study was undertaken in 2009-2010.
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The Ideal Clinic Realisation and Maintenance (ICRM) programme was initiated by the National Department of Health in July 2013 in order to systematically improve primary health care (PHC) facilities and the quality of care they provide. The Ideal Clinic framework/dashboard sets out the standards for ...PHC facilities to provide good-quality health services. An Ideal Clinic is defined as a clinic with good infrastructure, adequate staff, adequate medicines and supplies, good administrative processes, and sufficient adequate bulk supplies. Applicable clinical policies, protocols and guidelines are adhered to, and it harnesses partner and stakeholder support.
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HIV Testing and Counselling Guidelines
The Ideal Clinic manual has been developed to assist managers at various levels of healthcare service provision to correctly interpret and understand the requirement for achieving the elements as depicted in the Ideal Clinic framework/dashboard. It can therefore be regarded as a reference document w...hich guides the managers to determine the status of Ideal Clinic framework/dashboard elements in a facility.
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Kenya Quality Model for Health - Level 2 Facilities
Background
Asthma education, a key component of long-term asthma management, is challenging in resource-limited settings with shortages of clinical staff. Task-shifting educational roles to lay (non-clinical) staff is a potential solution. We conducted a randomised controlled trial of an enhanced a...sthma care intervention for children in Malawi, which included reallocation of asthma education tasks to lay-educators. In this qualitative sub-study, we explored the experiences of asthmatic children, their families and lay-educators, to assess the acceptability, facilitators and barriers, and perceived value of the task-shifting asthma education intervention.
Methods
We conducted six focus group discussions, including 15 children and 28 carers, and individual interviews with four lay-educators and a senior nurse. Translated transcripts were coded independently by three researchers and key themes identified.
Results
Prior to the intervention, participants reported challenges in asthma care including the busy and sometimes hostile clinical environment, lack of access to information and the erratic supply of medication. The education sessions were well received: participants reported greater understanding of asthma and their treatment and confidence to manage symptoms. The lay-educators appreciated pre-intervention training, written guidelines, and access to clinical support. Low education levels among carers presented challenges, requiring an open, non-critical and individualised approach.
Discussion
Asthma education can be successfully delivered by lay-educators with adequate training, supervision and support, with benefits to the patients, their families and the community. Wider implementation could help address human resource shortages and support progress towards Universal Health Coverage.
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The objective of this concept note and the framework it outlines is the elimination of a group of CDs and the negative health effects they generate, which together create a tangible burden on affected individuals, their families and communities, and on health care systems throughout the Region. Thou...gh there is no unified consensus on the best measures to use for the public’s health and a nation’s epidemiologic situation, it is common for the disease burden to be measured by disease rates (incidence, prevalence, etc.), disease-specific death rates, comparative morbidity and mortality rates, geographic distribution, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The current epidemiological situation, including data on disease rates or geographic distribution for the diseases in Table 1, is discussed below in Section 4. Hotez et al. (2008) were the first to review and compare the burden of DALYs in Latin America and the Caribbean—for NTDs, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB—as it existed about 10 years ago. Though the regional burden of TB, malaria, and neglected infectious diseases (NIDs) is somewhat less than it was 10 years ago, work (and schooling) continue to be lost to illness and premature death or disability, and the need for stepping up disease elimination efforts is evident in all communities living in vulnerable conditions....
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Malawi Integrated Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures for Providing HIV Services. 3rd edition 2016