Lecture 3 - Part 1 Flashcards
What is a health system?
A health system responds in a balanced way to a population’s needs and expectations by:
- improving the health status of individuals, families and communities
- defending the population against what threatens its health
- protecting people against the financial consequences of ill-health
- providing equitable access to people-centred care
Staffing accounts for what % of health budgets?
over 70%
By 2020 africa will have a shortage of how many nurses? physicians?
over a million nurses, 200,000 physicians
What are the causes of health care worker shortages?
- Heavy workloads
- Unsafe
- Poor pay
- Out-migration
According to the WHO there is a shortage of how many nurses worldwide?
9 million
What is the MD/pop in Canada?
1/480
What is the nurse/pop in Canada?
1/120
Example of staffing in a Primary care center in rural Uganda
Description:
- Level 4 health centre
- serves a pop of 75 000
- 2 wards pediatric and adult
- delivery room and surgical theatre
- Nearest hospital is 90 min by car
What would the staffing be like?
Staffing: No doctors 2 physician assistants 8 nurses/ midwives 1 pharmacy technician 1 lab technician 1 statistician 8 supporting staff(guards, cooks, cleaners)
What are 2 major challenges to healthcare staffing?
- Training (who to train, team training, what to teach)
2. Retention (internal factors, migration, incentives)
What other options do we have (besides doctors and nurses)
- Physician assistants: 3-4 years
- Midwives: 2-3 years
- Dental technicians: 2-3 years
- Health assistants: 2 years
- Paramedics: 1-2 years
- Community health workers: 3-6 months
- Skilled birth attendants: 3 months
- Depot holders: 3 months
- Village (lay) health volunteers: 2 weeks
What is Task Shifting/Sharing?
The delegation of tasks shifted to less specialized or lay health workers
What are 5 barriers to Task Shifting/Sharing?
- Professional associations stress because only a limited amount of money can be allocated on different partitioners
- Delivery of care is limited to health professionals, but could also be handled by other people, diarrhea for example
- No HMIS to guide manpower planning
- Lack of incentive to keep people working there
- Inability to supervise
What needs to be done to solve the global shortage of healthcare workers?
- Global health workforce strategy need to be established (Agreements, regulations)
- Accreditation of health training institutes
- Adequate # of trainees in system
- Adequate supervision/support of health workers
- Adequate remuneration
- Task sharing
- Community/household case management
Which countries spend the most on health care out of pocket?
poor countries
What are the characteristics of Appropriate technologies? (6)
- Meets people’s needs
- Env friendly
- Affordable
- Use of local skills and materials
- Helps LOCAL people make a living
- Very little manpower, training or maintenance requirements
Give an example of an inappropriate technology
Motorcycle ambulance: costs lots of money but is not a good solution
Straw to filter water: hard to drink with and pollution when it breaks
Give an example of appropriate technology
Bambulance (bike ambulance)
Lamp with solar energy
What is the leading indirect cause of DALYs?
Unsafe medical practices
What % of patients receive the correct diagnosis?
less than 40%
What % of children with diarrhea are prescribed harmful treatments?
More than 75% (this can be easily treated with rehydration solution)
What % of reported practices actually occur?
less than 20%
Who provides most continuing education on drugs?
drug vendors/detailers
How often do district level health facilities face stock-outs?
50% of the time
What can be done to improve quality of care? (8)
- Strengthened management competencies
- Improved communication and application of eHealth innovations
- Supportive supervision
- Incentives
- Quality of care monitoring
- Issue focused training, e.g.
- Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment (ETAT)
- Identify barriers and facilitators of quality care
