Patients’ perspectives of acceptability of ART, TB and maternal health services in a subdistrict of Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract: Background: The field of acceptability of health services is emerging and growing in coherence. But there are gaps, including relatively little integration of elements of acceptability. This study attempted to analyse collectively three elements of acceptability namely: patient-provider, patient-service organisation and patient-community interactions. Methods: Mixed methods were used to analyse secondary data collected as part of the Researching Equity in Access to Health Care (REACH) study of access to tuberculosis (TB) treatment, antiretroviral therapy (ART) and maternal health (MH) services in South Africa’s public health sector. Results: Provider acceptability was consistently high across all the three tracer services at 97.6% (ART), 96.6% (TB) and 96.4% (MH). Service acceptability was high only for TB tracer (70.1%). Community acceptability was high for both TB (83.6%) and MH (96.8%) tracers. Conclusion: Through mixed methods, this paper provides a nuanced view of acceptability of health services

Closing the gaps in defining and conceptualising acceptability of healthcare : a qualitative thematic content analysis

INTRODUCTION : Despite the importance of healthcare acceptability, the public health community has yet to agree on its explicit definition and conceptual framework. We explored different definitions and conceptual frameworks of healthcare acceptability, and identified commonalities in order to develop an integrated definition and conceptual framework of healthcare acceptability. MATERIALS AND METHODS : We applied qualitative thematic content analysis on research articles that attempted to define healthcare acceptability. We searched online databases and purposefully selected relevant articles that we imported into ATLAS.ti 8.4 for deductive and inductive analysis which continued until there were no new information emerging from selected documents (data saturation). RESULTS : Our analysis of the literature affirmed that healthcare acceptability remains poorly defined; limiting its application in public health. We proposed a practical definition attempting to fill identified gaps. We defined acceptability as a “multi-construct concept describing the nonlinear cumulative combination in parts or in whole of the fit between the expected and experienced healthcare from the patient, provider or healthcare systems and policy perspectives in a given context.” PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS : We presented and described a workable definition and framework of healthcare acceptability that can be applied to different actors including patients, healthcare providers, researchers, managers or policy makers.http://www.bioline.org.br/hsam2023Nursing ScienceSchool of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

A tool to define and measure maternal healthcare acceptability at a selected health sub-district in South Africa

Abstract Background There are many factors during pregnancy and labor that influence women’s acceptability of maternal healthcare. Nevertheless, the concept of acceptability of maternal healthcare has unfortunately not been clearly defined and remains difficult to assess, affecting its implications and approaches from maternal health perspectives. In this study, we proposed a practical definition of maternal healthcare acceptability and developed a tool to measure maternal healthcare acceptability from patients’ perspective at a selected health sub-district in South Africa. Methods We applied known techniques to develop measurement tools in health settings. The concept development drew from the literature review leading to the proposed definition of maternal healthcare acceptability which was then refined and validated by experts through Delphi technique. Other techniques included specification of concept constructs; selection of indicators; formation of indices; measurement tool/scale construction; and testing of reliability and validity. Factor analysis and simple arithmetic equation were performed on secondary and primary datasets respectively. Results Experts in the field reached a consensual definition of maternal healthcare acceptability. Factor analysis revealed three factors retained to predict maternal healthcare acceptability indices, namely provider, healthcare and community. Structural equation model showed good fit (CFI = 0.97), with good reliability and validity. Hypothesis testing confirmed that items and their corresponding factors were related (p < 0.01). Simple arithmetic equation was recommended as alternative method to measure acceptability when factor analysis was not applicable. Conclusion This study provides new insights into defining and measuring acceptability of maternal healthcare with significant contributions on existing theories and practices on this topic and practical applications not only for maternal health but also across diverse health disciplines

Research aim and objectives

This study aims to review existing literature to shed-light-on how the concept of maternal healthcare acceptability is defined and conceptualised. The specific objectives include: 1. To identify the gaps in defining the concept of maternal healthcare acceptability. 2. To explore the contextual understanding of maternal healthcare acceptability. 3. To ascertain the implication practices of maternal healthcare acceptability

Searching database

The PI has developed the search database which will be completed to summarise the historic search. From each study included, the data extraction process will be conducted in such a way to provide a logical and descriptive summary of relevant information that aligns with the research questions and objectives

Eligibility criteria

Identified studies will be screened using eligibility criteria carefully developed by the researcher to ensure that the included studies are relevant to address the research questions. Eligibility criteria have been determined using Population-Concept-Context (P-C-C) criteri