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Promoting access equity and improving health care for women, children and people living with HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso through mHealth.

ABSTRACT: Background:In Burkina Faso, access to health services for women, children and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) remains limited. Mobile telephony offers an alternative solution for reaching these individuals. The objective of the study was to improve equity of access to health care and information among women and PLWHAs by reinforcing community participation. Methods:Using a quasi-experimental approach, a mobile telephone system was set up at five health centres to provide an automated reminder service for health care consultation appointments. Performance evaluations based on key performance indicators were subsequently conducted. Results:A total of 1501 pregnant women and 301 PLWHAs were registered and received appointment reminders. A 7.34% increase in prenatal coverage, an 84% decrease in loss to follow-up for HIV (P < 0.001) and a 31% increase in assisted deliveries in 2016 (P < 0.0001) were observed in intervention areas. However, there was no statistically significant difference between intervention site and control site (P= 0.451 > 0.05) at post-intervention. Efforts to involve community members in decision-making processes contributed to improved health system governance. Conclusion:Mhealth may improve maternal and child health and the health of PLWHAs. However, establishment of a mHealth system requires taking into account community dynamics and potential technological challenges. Keywords:access to care, Burkina Faso, equity, health system governance, mobile telephony, Nouna.

SUBMITTER: Ye M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6294034 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Promoting access equity and improving health care for women, children and people living with HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso through mHealth.

Yé M M Kagoné M M Sié A A Bagagnan C C Sanou H H Millogo O O Duclos V V Tinto I I Bibeau Gilles G

Journal of public health (Oxford, England) 20181201 suppl_2

<h4>Background</h4>In Burkina Faso, access to health services for women, children and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) remains limited. Mobile telephony offers an alternative solution for reaching these individuals. The objective of the study was to improve equity of access to health care and information among women and PLWHAs by reinforcing community participation.<h4>Methods</h4>Using a quasi-experimental approach, a mobile telephone system was set up at five health centres to provide an a ...[more]

PMID: 30551129

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Project description:BACKGROUND: This methodological article is based on a health policy research project conducted in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Concept mapping (CM) was used as a research method to understand the local views of equity among stakeholders, who were concerned by the health policy under consideration. While this technique has been used in North America and elsewhere, to our knowledge it has not yet been applied in Africa in any vernacular language. Its application raises many issues and certain methodological limitations. Our objective in this article is to present its use in this particular context, and to share a number of methodological observations on the subject. METHODS: Two CMs were done among two different groups of local stakeholders following four steps: generating ideas, structuring the ideas, computing maps using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis methods, and interpreting maps. Fifteen nurses were invited to take part in the study, all of whom had undergone training on health policies. Of these, nine nurses (60%) ultimately attended the two-day meeting, conducted in French. Of 45 members of village health committees who attended training on health policies, only eight were literate in the local language (Moore). Seven of these (88%) came to the meeting. RESULTS: The local perception of equity seems close to the egalitarian model. The actors are not ready to compromise social stability and peace for the benefit of the worst-off. The discussion on the methodological limitations of CM raises the limitations of asking a single question in Moore and the challenge of translating a concept as complex as equity. While the translation of equity into Moore undoubtedly oriented the discussions toward social relations, we believe that, in the context of this study, the open-ended question concerning social justice has a threefold relevance. At the same time, those limitations were transformed into strengths. We understand that it was essential to resort to the focus group approach to explore deeply a complex subject such as equity, which became, after the two CMs, one of the important topics of the research. CONCLUSION: Using this technique in a new context was not the easiest thing to do. Nevertheless, contrary to what local organizers thought when we explained to them this "crazy" idea of applying the technique in Moore with peasants, we believe we have shown that it was feasible, even with persons not literate in French.

Project description:BACKGROUNDUser fees and poor quality of care contribute to low use of healthcare services in Burkina Faso. The government implemented an innovative intervention that combines equity measures with performance-based financing (PBF). These health equity measures included a community-based selection of indigents to receive user fee exemptions and paying healthcare centres higher purchase prices for services provided to indigents. Research suggests complex interventions can trigger changes not targeted by program planners. To date, however, there is a knowledge gap regarding the unintended consequences that can emerge from combining PBF with health equity measures. Our objective is to document unintended consequences of the equity measures in this complex intervention.METHODSWe developed a conceptual framework using the diffusion of innovations theory. For the design, we conducted a multiple case study. The cases were four healthcare facilities in one district. We collected data through 93 semi-structured interviews, informal discussions, observation, as well as intervention documents. We conducted thematic analysis using a hybrid deductive-inductive approach. We also used secondary data to describe the monthly evolution of services provided to indigent and non-indigent patients before and after indigent cards were distributed. Time series graphs were used to validate some results.RESULTSLocal actors, including members of indigent selection committees and healthcare workers, re-invented elements of the PBF equity measures over which they had control to increase their relative advantage or to adapt to implementation challenges and context. Some individuals who did not meet the local conceptualization of indigents were selected to the detriment of others who did. Healthcare providers believed that distributing free medications led to financial difficulties and drug shortages, especially given the low purchase prices and long payment delays. Healthcare workers adopted measures to limit free services delivered to indigents, which led to conflicts between indigents and providers. Ultimately, selected indigents received uncertain and unequal coverage.CONCLUSIONSThe severity of unintended consequences undermined the effectiveness and equity of the intervention. If the intervention is prolonged and expanded, decision-makers and implementers will have to address these unintended consequences to reduce inequities in accessing care.

Project description:OBJECTIVE: The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended a universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIV-infected children before the age of two since 2010, but this implies an early identification of these infants. We described the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission (PMTCT) cascade, the staffing and the quality of infrastructures in pediatric HIV care facilities, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 2011 in all health care facilities involved in PMTCT and pediatric HIV care in Ouagadougou. We assessed them according to their coverage in pediatric HIV care and WHO standards, through a desk review of medical registers and a semi-structured questionnaire administered to health-care workers (HCW). RESULTS: In 2011, there was no offer of care in primary health care facilities for HIV-infected children in Ouagadougou. Six district hospitals and two university hospitals provided pediatric HIV care. Among the 67 592 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in 2011, 85.9% were tested for HIV. The prevalence of HIV was 1.8% (95% Confidence Interval: 1.7%-1.9%). Among the 1 064 HIV-infected pregnant women attending antenatal clinics, 41.4% received a mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention intervention. Among the HIV-exposed infants, 313 (29.4%) had an early infant HIV test, and 306 (97.8%) of these infants tested received their result within a four-month period. Among the 40 children initially tested HIV-infected, 33 (82.5%) were referred to a health care facility, 3 (9.0%) were false positive, and 27 (90.0%) were initiated on ART. Although health care facilities were adequately supplied with HIV drugs, they were hindered by operational challenges such as shortage of infrastructures, laboratory reagents, and trained HCW. CONCLUSIONS: The PMTCT cascade revealed bottle necks in PMTCT intervention and HIV early infant diagnosis. The staffing in HIV care and quality of health care infrastructures were also insufficient in 2011 in Ouagadougou.

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Promoting access equity and improving health care for women, children and people living with HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso through mHealth.

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Promoting access equity and improving health care for women, children and people living with HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso through mHealth.

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