A qualitative study of the perspectives of health workers and policy makers on external support provided to low-level private health facilities in a Ugandan rural district, in management of childhood infections
Loading...
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Global Health Action
Abstract
With the under-five child mortality rate of 46.4 deaths per 1000 live births,
Uganda should accelerate measures to reduce child deaths to achieve the Sustainable
Development Goal 3. While 60–70% of frontline health services are provided by the private
sector, many low-level private health facilities (LLPHF) are unregistered, unregulated, and
often miss innovative and quality improvement strategies rolled out by the Ministry of Health.
LLPHF need support in order to provide quality health care.
Objective: To explore the perspectives of health workers and policy makers on external
support given to LLPHF providing health care for children in Mbarara District, Uganda.
Methods: We carried out a qualitative study, in which 43 purposively selected health workers
and policy makers were interviewed. The issues discussed included their views on the
quantity, quality, factors determining support received and preferred modalities of support
to LLPHF. We used thematic analysis, employing an inductive approach to code interview
transcripts and to identify subthemes and themes.
Results: The support currently provided to LLPHF to manage childhood illnesses is inadequate.
Health providers emphasised a need for technical capacity building, provision of
policies, guidelines and critical supplies as well as adopting a more supportive supervisory
approach instead of the current supervision model characterised by policing, fault finding
and apportioning blame. Registration of the health facilities and regular submission of reports
as well as multi-stakeholder involvement are potential strategies to improve external support.
Conclusion: The current support received by LLPHF is inadequate in quantity and quality.
Capacity building with emphasis on training, provision of critical guidelines and supplies as
well as and supportive supervision are key strategies for delivering appropriate external
support to LLPHF.
Description
Keywords
Health workers, Private health facilities, Ugandan rural district, Childhood infections
Citation
Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire, Joan N. Kalyango, Karin Källander, Radhika Sundararajan, Judith Owokuhaisa, Joseph Rujumba, Celestino Obua, Tobias Alfvén & Grace Ndeezi (2021) A qualitative study of the perspectives of health workers and policy makers on external support provided to low-level private health facilities in a Ugandan rural district, in management of childhood infections, Global Health Action, 14:1, 1961398, DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2021.1961398