Public Health Delivery System Research Articles

Integrating multi-national teams: over a decade of lessons learned in Chiapas with Partners in Health-Mexico.

In a globalized world where pathology and risk can flow freely across borders, the discipline of global health equity has proposed to meet this challenge with an equal exchange of solutions, and people working toward those solutions. Considering the history of colonialism, ongoing economic exploitation, and gaping inequities across and within countries, these efforts must be taken with care. The Partners In Health program in Chiapas, Mexico was founded in 2011 by a team of leaders from both the United States and Mexico to strengthen the public health and care delivery systems serving impoverished rural populations. Key to the strategy has been to marshal funding, knowledge, and expertise from elite institutions in both the United States and Mexico for the benefit of an area that previously had rarely seen such inputs, but always in close partnership with local leaders and community processes. With now over a decade of experience, several key lessons have emerged in both what was done well and what continues to present ongoing challenges. Top successes include: effective recruitment and retention strategies for attracting talented Mexican clinicians to perform their social service year in previously unappealing rural placements; using effective fund-raising strategies from multinational sources to ensure the health care delivered can be exemplary; and effectively integrating volunteer clinicians from high-income contexts in a way that benefits the local staff, the foreign visitors, and their home institutions. A few chief ongoing challenges remain: how to work with local communities to receive foreign visitors; how to hire, develop, and appropriately pay a diverse workforce that comes with differing expectations for their professional development; and how to embed research in non-extractive ways. Our community case study suggests that multinational global health teams can be successful if they share the goal of achieving mutual benefit through an equity lens, and are able to apply creativity and humility to form deep partnerships.

Trends of antihypertensive use in a tertiary care hospital in Nadia district of West Bengal, India

Background: Being a major non-communicable disease hypertension contributes significantly to disease burden and mortality. Poor control of blood pressure (BP) increases the chance of recurrent stroke and mortality. Although various guidelines have been published to inform practitioners about hypertension and its management, it is necessary to monitor to how much extent the guidelines are being followed. Aims and Objectives: The study aimed to observe antihypertensive medication prescription pattern among indoor patients in a tertiary medical college hospital and to know whether such trend of prescription is relevant and in conformity with the national and international guidelines. Materials and Methods: A prescription-based survey was conducted over 6 months among patients admitted to the medicine ward in a medical college hospital in Nadia district of West Bengal. Relevant data were collected and used for analysis. Results: A total of 500 prescriptions were evaluated. Two hundred and seventy-three patients were female (54.6%) and 227 patients were male (45.4%). About 56.2% of patients were in the senior age group with a higher contribution by the female subjects. Only 17% of patients had Grade 1 hypertension reflecting poor BP control among hypertensive patients. Combination drug was advised in more than half of cases (54.6%), whereas single drug was advised in 44.2% of cases. Amlodipine was the highest prescribing drug (66%) both as monotherapy and in combination followed by Lasix (54.6%), labetalol (31.6%), and telmisartan (11.4%). The thiazide group of drugs was used only in 1% of cases. Conclusion: Overall, the management guidelines for hypertension were adhered in the prescriptions. The underutilization of thiazide-type diuretics remains an area of concern and needs necessary action. The public health delivery system may need to take appropriate measures to make people aware of BP control.

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child health care in a medical teaching hospital, Bengaluru, India

Background: Maternal and child health (MCH) care is a fundamental service of the public health delivery system of a nation, especially in low and middle-income countries like India. As the Covid-19 pandemic continued throughout the world, the health services such as maternal and child health (MCH) remained in inertia. Stringent lockdown measures and fear of contracting Covid-19 infection made accessing these services extremely hard. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care maternity hospital in Bengaluru from July to September 2021 among the post-natal mothers using a semi-structured questionnaire about the utilization of MCH services. Results: A total of 316 mothers were interviewed. Among them, 72.8% mothers had completed 4 or more antenatal visits. Among high-risk pregnancies, only 66.3% had completed adequate antenatal visits. 63% of infants had low birth weight and 83.4% of children were immunized up to date. Conclusions: This study revealed that, more than 1/4th of mothers had not completed 4 or more antenatal visits and about 1/3rd of the high-risk mothers had not completed adequate antenatal visits. More than 2/3rd of infants had low birth weight. This shows that there was a marked reduction in the utilization of MCH services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Applying network analysis to assess the development and sustainability of multi-sector coalitions.

Accountable Communities of Health (ACH) models have been popularized through Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) grants, including the State Innovation Model (SIM), to encourage the development of community-based coalitions across medical, public health, and social service delivery systems. These models enhance care coordination for patients and are better equipped to address Social Determinants of Health (SDH) needs. Network data was collected from participating organizations in seven ACH sites established across Iowa. The application of network analysis quantitatively characterized the relational context of the interorganizational, cross-sector networks which are foundational to achieving the ACH goal of systematic, comprehensive care. Our analysis primarily used logistic network regression modeling (LNRM) to identify network structures and characteristics of organizations that facilitate or impede sustainable connections. Our findings suggest that the ACH was effective at stimulating sustainable connections across sectors and disparate positions of centrality in the network. Factors associated with sustainable connections between organizations included the strength of relationships and the type of collaboration, namely data sharing and resource sharing. Leadership roles designated by the ACH structure were associated with stimulating connections during the grant, but not with sustainment. Network measures of density and transitivity, which peaked during the grant period (compared to pre- and post-grant networks), further implied possible attrition of the ACH intervention effects without incentive to maintain collaborations. Multi-sector care coordination networks were established, but our findings suggest depreciation of ACH intervention momentum and structure without incentive to maintain collaborations beyond the three-year duration of the grant. Sustainability could be bolstered and ACH goals actualized with reliable long-term funding.

Euphorbia neriifolia Leaf Juice on Mild and Moderate COVID-19 Patients: Implications in OMICRON Era.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has shattered the public health delivery system of most of the countries of the world. COVID-19 displays variable clinical presentations. The severe COVID-19 represents a fulminant pathological condition and most of the patients run a downhill course if extensive medical measures are not adopted. The major challenges about COVID-19 are related to develop strategies to manage huge populations of mild and moderate cases of COVID-19 with two realistic purposes: (1) early negativity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and (2) arrest of progression of moderate COVID-19 patients from developing severe complications. Although several medications have been repurposed for these purposes, none of these have passed the test of time in global perspective. Thus, there remains a pressing need to develop new and novel innovative management strategies for these patients as new variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been destroying the normal public health delivery system of different countries from time to time. The study presented here has checked the safety and efficacy of a herbal medication, leaves of Euphorbia neriifolia Linn (E. neriifolia), in mild and moderate COVID-19 patients. Sixty patients (30 mild COVID-19 and 30 moderate COVID-19) were enrolled in the study. Fifteen mild COVID-19 patients received standard of care (SOC) management, and the remaining 15 patients received SOC plus E. neriifolia. The moderate COVID-19 patients similarly received either SOC (N = 15) or SOC plus E. neriifolia (N = 15). Although there were marked diversity regarding biochemical parameters of these patients at entry, the moderate COVID-19 patients receiving E. neriifolia showed decrease in C-reactive protein and D-dimer and increase in oxygen saturation 7 days after trial commencement. However, these improvements were not detected in moderate COVID-19 patients receiving SOC. Hospital staying was significantly lower in both mild and moderate COVID-19 patients receiving SOC plus E. neriifolia than those receiving only SOC. Taken together, it may be proposed that usage of E. neriifolia may have beneficial effects regarding management for COVID-19 patients, especially for those in developing and resource-constrained countries, although a conclusive statement may not be given due to small sample size. This herbal medication is also pertinent in the context of emergence of OMICRON variant of COVID-19 as the overload of SARS-CoV-2-infecetd patients may be addressed considerably by this medication without hospitalization, if proper communication between patients and physicians can be ensured.How to cite this articlePramanik MEA, Miah MMZ, Ahmed I, et al. Euphorbia neriifolia Leaf Juice on Mild and Moderate COVID-19 Patients: Implications in OMICRON Era. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2022;12(1):10–18.

Identifying Value-Added Population Health Capabilities to Strengthen Public Health Infrastructure.

While the novel coronavirus pandemic has underscored the important role of public health systems in protecting community health, it has also exposed weaknesses in the public health infrastructure that stem from chronic underfunding and fragmentation in public health delivery systems. Information about the relative value in the implementation of recommended population health capabilities can help communities prioritize their use of limited time and resources and identify the most effective pathways for building a stronger public health system. We used a longitudinal cohort design with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Public Health Systems to examine longitudinal and geographic trends in the delivery of population health capabilities and their impact on system strength across communities in the United States. We used linear probability models to ascertain whether the delivery of certain capabilities added value to public health system strength. Those communities with the strongest classification of public health system structure in both urban and rural areas implemented the largest set of population health capabilities. Results from the linear probability model indicate that a set of population health capabilities are associated with increased public health system strength. Key activities include allocating resources based on a community health plan, surveying the community for behavioral risk factors, analyzing the data on preventive services use, and engaging community stakeholders in health improvement planning (p < 0.01). The results of this study suggest that public health systems can be strengthened through the targeted implementation of high-value population health capabilities. Prioritizing the delivery of value-added population health capabilities may help communities increase their public health system's capacity and improve health outcomes.

DNA-based screening and population health: a points to consider statement for programs and sponsoring organizations from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG)

DNA-based screening and population health: a points to consider statement for programs and sponsoring organizations from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG)

Incident hypertension in urban slums of central India: a prospective cohort study

BackgroundNumerous studies have highlighted the burden of hypertension by estimating its prevalence. However, information regarding quantum and characteristics of persons whose blood pressure converts to hypertension range from their previous...

Alcohol controls in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in India: Commentary on Stockwell et al.

The COVID‐19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions have resulted in additional challenges for persons with alcohol use disorders as well as for the effective operation of alcohol controls in different societies. The challenges are different in different systems and economies. Crises such as these often provide governments with opportunities to remake systems. We use the recent experience from India, which rapidly shifted between total countrywide prohibition of alcohol and unrestricted sales during this brief period, to argue against using the present crisis to bring about quick changes in alcohol policy in India. Instead, we advocate sustained, incremental pressure to develop and enforce alcohol control measures in public health delivery systems, in addition to demand reduction measures.

The Vital Role of a Full Continuum of Psychiatric Care Beyond Beds.

The authors make the case for expanding the national discussion of inpatient psychiatric beds to recognize and incorporate other vital components of the continuum of care in order to improve outcomes for individuals with serious mental illness. They review the varied terminology applied to psychiatric beds and describe how the location of these beds has changed from primarily state hospitals to the criminal justice system, emergency departments, inpatient units, and the community. The authors propose 10 recommendations related to beds or to contextual issues regarding them. The recommendations address issues of mental illness terminology, criminal and juvenile justice diversion, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, mental health technology, and the mental health workforce, among others. Each recommendation is based on findings from publicly available data and clinical observation and is intended to reduce the human and economic costs associated with severe mental illness by promoting a robust, interconnected, and evidence-based system of care that goes beyond beds.

Cash Incentives to Mothers or to Community Health Workers - What Contributes Better to the Health of the Mother and the Newborn? Evidence From India

This paper investigates the role of demand-side incentives to mothers and supply-side incentives to community health workers (ASHAs) in improving maternal and child health. These conditional cash benefits were part of a nationwide health intervention Janani Suraksha Yojana, introduced in India in 2005. By its unique dual focus on demand and supply, the programme entitled socio-economically backward mothers with cash assistance if they chose to give birth at public health institutions, and simultaneously employed ASHAs to act as a direct link between a pregnant woman and the public health delivery system. By using variations across eligibility of mothers, and the differential implementation of ASHAs across low-focus and high-focus states in a difference-in-difference framework, the maternal and neonatal health outcomes are evaluated. Results show causal evidence that eligible mothers who received both cash benefits and ASHA’s guidance outperformed the eligible mothers receiving only cash benefits, in outcomes such as institutional births and breastfeeding practices. To elucidate, a mother with both cash benefits and ASHA’s counsel experienced a 7.1 percentage points increase in institutional birth rate than her ineligible counterpart; whereas, the corresponding increase for a mother only eligible for cash benefits was 2.9 percentage points. A similar impact is found in the case of antenatal care check-ups of the expecting mother and BCG vaccination of the newborn.

ADVANCING POLICY TO BUILD A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE THAT ADDRESSES THE NEEDS OF OLDER ADULTS

California’s Mental Health Services Act has infused funding for workforce education and training into the public mental health system. However, funding has not kept pace with an existing behavioral health workforce shortage crisis, the rapid growth of an aging population, and the historical lack of geriatric training in higher education for the helping professions. This study draws on findings from a recent evaluation of how older adults are served by California’s public mental health delivery system, and a review of state planning documents and academic literature, to describe gaps and deficiencies in the workforce that serves older adults. While California has more than 80,000 licensed behavioral health professionals in a variety of disciplines, very few have specialized training in geriatrics. Across the U.S., there are fewer than 1,800 geriatric psychiatrists and only about 3% of medical students take any geriatrics electives during their training. Very few nurses (1%), psychologists (4%), or social workers (4%) have training in and/or specialize in geriatrics. Of additional concern in California is the lack of representation of ethnic and racial minorities, and rural/urban geographic disparities in the distribution of the behavioral health workforce. Recommendations for advancing policy change to improve the preparation and distribution of the geriatric behavioral workforce are presented to three distinct audiences: state policymakers and administrators; educational institutions, accrediting bodies, and licensing boards; and county mental health/behavioral health departments and their contracted providers.

Health Literacy Matters More Than Experience for Advance Care Planning Knowledge Among Older Adults

Advance care planning (ACP) engagement is low among vulnerable populations, including those with limited health literacy (LHL). Limited knowledge about ACP may be a modifiable mediator of the relationship between LHL and ACP. Our goal was to determine whether health literacy is associated with ACP knowledge. Cross-sectional design. A public health delivery system and Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, CA. English- and Spanish-speaking patients (N = 1400). ACP knowledge was assessed with seven validated multiple-choice questions. Health literacy was measured using a validated scale. Sociodemographic measures included age, sex, language, education, race, health status, and social support. Prior ACP experience was defined as having documented legal forms and/or goals-of-care discussions in the medical record. We used Kruskal-Wallis tests and linear regression to examine associations of ACP knowledge with LHL, prior ACP experience, and sociodemographic factors. Mean age of participants was 65 (±10) years, 48% were women, 34% had LHL, 32% were Spanish speaking, 47% had high school education or less, and 70% were nonwhite. Mean 7-point knowledge scores were lower for those with limited vs adequate health literacy (3.8 [SD = 1.9 vs 5.5 (SD = 1.7); P < .001). In multivariable analysis, ACP knowledge scores were 1.0 point lower among those with LHL; 0.6 points lower among Spanish speakers and those with high school education or less; and 0.5 points lower among individuals of nonwhite race (P < .001 for all). Knowledge scores were 0.02 points lower per year of older age (P = .007) and 0.01 points higher per point of greater social support (P = .005). Prior ACP experience was not associated with knowledge after adjustment (P = .7). Health literacy and sociodemographics are stronger predictors than prior ACP experience of ACP knowledge. This study suggests that providing easy-to-understand ACP materials is paramount and should be offered even if patients have previous experience with the ACP process. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:2151-2156, 2019.

Assessment of vaccine coverage and associated factors among children in urban agglomerations of Kochi, Kerala, India.

Context:Urban population in India is growing exponentially. The public sector urban health delivery system has so far been limited in its reach and is far from adequate.Aims:This study aims to estimate routine immunization coverage and associated factors among children (12–23 months and 60–84 months) in the urban Kochi Metropolitan Area of Kerala.Settings and Design:A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kochi Metropolitan area.Materials and Methods:A cluster sampling technique was used to collect data on immunization status from 310 children aged between 12 and 23 months and 308 children aged between 60 and 84 months.Statistical Analysis:Crude coverage details for each vaccine were estimated using percentages and confidence intervals. Bivariate and multivariate analysis were conducted to identify factors associated with immunization coverage.Results:Among the children aged 12–23 months, 89% (95% CI 85.5%-92.5%) were fully immunized, 10% were partially immunized, and 1% unimmunized. Less than 10 years of schooling among mothers (OR 2.40, 95% CI 1.20–4.81) and living in a nuclear family (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.06–3.14) were determinants associated with partial or unimmunization of children as per multivariate analysis. The coverage of individual vaccines was found to decrease after 18 months from 90% to 75% at 4–5 years for Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus (DPT) booster. Bivariate analysis found lower birth order and belonging to the Muslim religion as significant factors for this decrease.Conclusion:Education of the mother and nuclear families emerged as areas of vulnerability in urban immunization coverage. Inadequate social support and competing priorities with regard to balancing work and home probably lead to delay or forgetfulness in vaccination. Therefore, a locally contextualized comprehensive strategy with strengthening of the primary health system is needed to improve the immunization coverage in urban areas.

Has the Public Health System Provided Adequate Financial Risk Protection for Child Birth Conditions - Evidences From an Eastern Indian State.

Over the years, national and sub-national governments have introduced several initiatives to improve access to maternal and child health services in India. However, financial barriers have posed major constraints. Based upon the data of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) round 4 for Odisha state, our paper examines the out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) borne by households for accessing maternal and child healthcare services in a low resource setting of India. We have interpreted results of NFHS-4 by drawing inferences from literature for understanding the rising OOPE in the public health system. Findings suggests that OOPE is considerably high for maternal and child health conditions in Odisha and ranks fifth, despite the coverage of 72% women under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a condition cash transfer scheme with majority utilizing the public health system. The high OOPE on child delivery raises numerous pertinent questions about the effectiveness of the public health delivery system, and thus requires financial protection in the interest of the population that accesses public health systems in the state.

Impact of Publicly Financed Health Insurance Scheme (Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana) from Equity and Efficiency Perspectives

Executive Summary Catastrophic health expenses result in impoverishment of a large number of people every year in India. This often forces the resource-poor households to forego treatment due to lack of affordability. Providing quality health care to all at an affordable cost is a policy commitment for India as it is a signatory of the Alma Ata Declaration. The Government of India is working towards providing universal health coverage through its National Health Policy. As part of universalization of health care, the government had launched a publicly financed health insurance scheme, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), to provide affordable and quality health services. The present study dealt with understanding the impact of the scheme for improving health care-seeking and reducing burden of health expenditure among resource-poor families through a matched controlled cross-sectional study. The study tried to assess whether RSBY had improved care-seeking and reduced incidences of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and health expenditure-induced poverty among the insured population and also tried to explore whether the benefits were equitable. It was conducted in purposively selected two blocks of Ranchi district in Jharkhand with 1,643 households below poverty line (BPL). Both enrolled and non-enrolled households were selected randomly for the study after matching with some key matching criteria. It was found that RSBY neither increased in-facility treatment (hospitalization) nor reduced the likelihood of CHE among the enrolled households. More importantly, it significantly increased the incidence of health expenditure-induced poverty among the households who were above the poverty line before incurring any health expenditure. From equity perspective, care-seeking was much lower among the economically weaker households compared to the better-off households. Similarly, incidences of CHE and health expenditure-induced poverty were also found to be higher among the weaker sections. The study shows that RSBY did not achieve its objective of improving care-seeking and providing financial security to the enrolled households, and more importantly to the economically weaker sections of the society. Other studies have also found that one of the factors for high out-of-pocket expenditure in health is a weak public health delivery system which forces people to seek care from private providers. Hence, it is important for the policymakers to critically evaluate whether such insurance models will actually ensure better financial security for the households from excessive health expenditure and whether strengthening the existing public health delivery system would be a better option.

Towards a Shariah Compliance Model for Healthcare Centres with reference to Spiritual Healers: Issues and Challenges

Generally, a good healthcare centre comprises of qualified manpower, right policies and right procedures in providing primary care, secondary care and tertiary care for the patients as well as in public health. Other than manpower, healthcare centres must also look at social, religious and cultural factors affecting the recipients of the healthcare services given by the healthcare centres. In this paper, the author will look at some pertinent issues such as the need to have spiritual healers in any healthcare centre to help the patients in dealing with fatal illness. The spiritual healer is to help the patient and give him motivation so that he could have a positive mind throughout his journey in battling with his illness. Sometimes we have patients who refused to listen to the doctor's advice. Thus, the role of the spiritual healer would be important in assisting the healthcare centres and its management to convince him. Another issue is the privacy, respect and trust between patients and doctors as well as with the management of the healthcare centres. One of the duties of the healthcare centres’ management and doctors is, to respect the patient's religion and his faith. These three issues are amongst the important issues which every healthcare centre must look upon. Definitely there are a lot of challenges in addressing the above mentioned issues such as the procedures, methods on how to execute these issues and most importantly the perception of the public. In Islam, health care is one of the five important elements in which the Prophet SAW has mentioned in one hadith to be taken care of. A study has shown that a nation-building efforts has no meaningwithout the best public health and healthcare delivery system to the people.

Health System in Andhra Pradesh

Building health systems that are responsive to community needs particularly for the poor is essential. In view of the growing divergence both between and within the states, disaggregated studies are necessary for identification of the critical areas calling for policy intervention. In this connection, the article is an attempt to analyse the performance of healthcare system of Andhra Pradesh (AP) at district level by focusing on technical efficiency. The study is based on secondary data. Stochastic frontier model has been used for analysis. The results show that the efficiency of the public health delivery system remains low. Not all the districts with lower infant mortality rate (IMR) have efficient health systems. The disparities across districts in terms of availability of hospitals and primary health centres have an adverse impact on improving IMR in AP. Overcoming these disparities within the health system may lead to improvement of public health system at district level in AP. Further, reduction in IMR may be possible at a faster pace in the state if such efforts are coupled with steps to promote literacy particularly female literacy. This could make them empowered to demand for adequate health infrastructure and ensure better utilization of it in poorly performing districts.

Understanding the Potential for Patient Engagement in Electronic Consultation and Referral Systems: Lessons From One Safety Net System.

To understand patient, primary care clinician (PCC), and subspecialist perspectives on potential, unexplored roles for patients in electronic consultation and referral (eCR) systems. Primary focus group and survey data collected April-November 2015. Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) is part of an integrated public health delivery system. Its mature eCR system was first implemented in 2005. This mixed-methods study synthesizes patient, subspecialist, and PCC perspectives through two patient focus groups in English, Spanish, and Cantonese (n=6); subspecialist focus groups (n=2); and an electronic survey of all PCCs (n=222/634, 35 percent response). Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed. Two researchers coded the transcripts to identify recurrent themes. Survey data were analyzed using summary and bivariate statistics. Patients expressed minimal desire to directly engage in eCR, instead of emphasizing their PCC's role in advocating, informing, and finding health solutions. Subspecialists requested more consistent communication to patients about the electronic consultation process. Most PCCs (52 percent) supported patient engagement in the eCR process, particularly patient ability to track consult status and securely message with subspecialists. Results suggest a continuum of opportunities for patients and their caregivers to engage in eCR systems.

Abstracts of Presentations Scheduled for the 10th ISNS-Asia Pacific Regional Meeting, Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, 24–26 August 2017

The International Society for Neonatal Screening (ISNS) recognises six different geographical regions [...]