Faith-inspired Health Care Provision in Ghana: Market Share, Reach to the Poor, and Performance

This paper relies on administrative, household surveys and qualitative data to answer three questions about the services provided by faith-inspired health care providers in Ghana, asking: (1) what is the market share of faith-inspired providers as compared to other types of providers; (2) are there differences in market shares among the poor between faith-inspired providers and other types of providers; and (3) how satisfied are patients with the services received and why are patients choosing faith-inspired providers for care? While estimates based on facilities data, especially for hospitals, suggest that the market share of faith-inspired providers is at 30 percent to 40 percent, estimates from household surveys are at less than ten percent. The market share among the poor of faith-inspired providers appears to be similar to that of public providers, but higher than that of private non-religious providers. The qualitative data suggests that the reasons that lead patients to choose faith-inspired providers are not related directly to religion per se, but rather (perhaps indirectly) to the quality of the services provided, including (but not only) through the values of dignity and respect for patients that these facilities exhibit

Satisfaction with and reasons for choosing faith-inspired health care provision in Ghana

This paper relies on household survey data as well as qualitative fieldwork to answer two questions about the services provided by faith-inspired health care providers in Ghana: how satisfied are patients with the services received?; and why are patients choosing faith-inspired providers for care? The quantitative survey data suggests that the level of satisfaction with the services provided by faith-inspired facilities is similar to that for public facilities, but lower than for private non-religious facilities. The qualitative data suggests that the reasons that lead patients to choose faith-inspired providers are not related to religion per se, but rather to the quality of the services provided, including (but not only) through the values of dignity and respect for patients that these facilities exhibit. Indirectly this suggests that the satisfaction with and quality of services provided by faith-inspired providers may be higher than suggested by survey data. At the same time, patients mention some areas for improvement including in terms of availability of medicines and equipment

Faith-inspired Health Care Provision in Ghana: Market Share, Reach to the Poor, and Performance

This paper relies on administrative, household surveys and qualitative data to answer three questions about the services provided by faith-inspired health care providers in Ghana, asking: (1) what is the market share of faith-inspired providers as compared to other types of providers; (2) are there differences in market shares among the poor between faith-inspired providers and other types of providers; and (3) how satisfied are patients with the services received and why are patients choosing faith-inspired providers for care? While estimates based on facilities data, especially for hospitals, suggest that the market share of faith-inspired providers is at 30 percent to 40 percent, estimates from household surveys are at less than ten percent. The market share among the poor of faith-inspired providers appears to be similar to that of public providers, but higher than that of private non-religious providers. The qualitative data suggests that the reasons that lead patients to choose faith-inspired providers are not related directly to religion per se, but rather (perhaps indirectly) to the quality of the services provided, including (but not only) through the values of dignity and respect for patients that these facilities exhibit

Satisfaction with and reasons for choosing faith-inspired health care provision in Ghana

This paper relies on household survey data as well as qualitative fieldwork to answer two questions about the services provided by faith-inspired health care providers in Ghana: how satisfied are patients with the services received?; and why are patients choosing faith-inspired providers for care? The quantitative survey data suggests that the level of satisfaction with the services provided by faith-inspired facilities is similar to that for public facilities, but lower than for private non-religious facilities. The qualitative data suggests that the reasons that lead patients to choose faith-inspired providers are not related to religion per se, but rather to the quality of the services provided, including (but not only) through the values of dignity and respect for patients that these facilities exhibit. Indirectly this suggests that the satisfaction with and quality of services provided by faith-inspired providers may be higher than suggested by survey data. At the same time, patients mention some areas for improvement including in terms of availability of medicines and equipment

Enhancing the Quality of Education in the Maldives: Challenges and Prospects

The quality of education is a major policy challenge facing the Maldives. The country achieved the first generation objective of providing universal access to basic education through rapid expansion of enrollment. As is frequently the case with such countries, the second generation challenge is to provide education of adequate quality. Evidence from a variety of sources shows that education quality in the Maldives is weak, and needs urgent improvement. Learning outcomes in both primary and secondary education are modest. National assessments of learning outcomes at Grade 4 and Grade 7 show that learning levels are unsatisfactory. The low average scores suggest that learning levels in both primary education and lower secondary education are weak. There are several dimensions of education quality which Maldivian policy makers consider to be of vital importance. Among these, the quality of school teachers is central to the improvement of education quality. Hence, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is concerned to develop the skills, motivation and performance of teachers. A second key policy initiative is the establishment of a sound quality assurance framework for the school system. The MOE has developed a quality assurance mechanism, which now needs to be pilot tested, refined and scaled up throughout the country. A third strategic policy initiative is the development of a system of regular national assessments of learning outcomes, which can then feed into policy formulation and program development. These three strategic policy initiatives are discussed in the subsequent sections of this report

School-Based Education Improvement Initiatives: The Experience and Options for Sri Lanka

Most developing countries following independence opted for strong central control and direction of the education system, partly because of limited resources and the need to plan carefully and partly because of a felt need to create a sense of national unity among diverse ethnic and linguistic groups. This meant that key areas of control and decision making, such as management of resources and personnel, curriculum, evaluation of performance, and accountability, were under central rather than local control. The empowerment of schools has two major components: school-based management and the involvement of parents and communities in the work of schools. The emphasis given to one or other of these components depends on general national policy, local traditions, and context, with the result that almost every system is unique when one considers who makes decisions, the actual decisions that are made, the nature of those decisions, the level at which they are made, and relationships between levels. Thus, there are 'strong' and 'weak' versions of school empowerment. In some, only a single area of autonomy is granted to schools, while in others the community management of schools, even the establishment of schools, is encouraged (World Bank, 2007). In this paper, the author will briefly outline the history of school empowerment in Sri Lanka with particular reference to the Program for School Improvement (PSI), which commenced in 2006. The final section of the paper contains suggestions designed to strengthen process of empowering Sri Lankan schools and improving education outcomes