Perceptions of health, health care and community-oriented health interventions in poor urban communities of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

In Democratic Republic of Congo access to health care is limited because of many geographical and financial barriers, while quality of care is often low. Global health donors assist the country with a number of community-oriented interventions such as free distribution of bednets, antihelminthic drugs, vitamin A supplementation and vaccination campaigns, but uptake of these interventions is not always optimal. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of poor urban communities of the capital Kinshasa with regard to health issues in general as well as their experiences and expectations concerning facility-based health services and community-oriented health interventions. Applying an approach rooted in the grounded theory framework, focus group discussions were conducted in eight neighborhoods of poor urban areas in the city of Kinshasa in July 2011. Study participants were easily able to evoke the city’s major health problems, with the notable exceptions of malnutrition and HIV/AIDS. They perceive the high out-of-pocket cost of health services as the major obstacle when seeking access to quality care. Knowledge of ongoing community-oriented health interventions seems good. Still, while the study participants agree that those interventions are beneficial; their acceptability seems to be problematic. This is chiefly put down to a lack of information and government communication about the programs and their interventions. Furthermore, the study participants referred to rumors and the deterring effect of stories about alleged harmful consequences of those interventions. Along with improving the provision and quality of general health care, the government and international actors must improve their efforts in informing the communities about disease control programs, their rationale and benefit/risk ratio. Directly engaging community members in a dialogue might be beneficial in terms of improving acceptability and overall access to health services and interventions. Novel ways of reducing the high out-of-pocket expenditure should also be explored

Diagnostic work-up of neurological syndromes in a rural African setting: knowledge, attitudes and practices of health care providers

Neurological disorders of infectious origin are common in rural sub-Saharan Africa and usually have serious consequences. Unfortunately, these syndromes are often poorly documented for lack of diagnostic tools. Clinical management of these diseases is a major challenge in under-equipped rural health centers and hospitals. We documented health care provider knowledge, attitudes and practices related to this syndrome in two rural health zones in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

Location of the study sites.

<p>Location of the study sites.</p

Focus Group Discussion Guide.

<p>Focus Group Discussion Guide.</p

Sequence of research instruments

<p>Sequence of research instruments</p

Demographic characteristics of the study sites.

<p>Source : Annual reports 2009 of the District Health Offices of Bandalungwa, Limete, Bumbu and Matete</p

Number of observations, interviews and focus groups by category of respondents.

<p>Number of observations, interviews and focus groups by category of respondents.</p

Characteristics of the FGD discussions.

<p>N.B : CBO : community based organization, FBO : Faith based organization.</p