Development of a patient-centred in-service training programme for midwives to increase client satisfaction with child-birth care in Kumasi, Ghana

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDBackground: Satisfaction with the care mothers receive during child-birth is known to have a very strong influence on their future use of facility-based care during child-birth. Women and children continue to die from complications associated with pregnancy and child-birth and the majority of the causes that lead to mortality are related to labour and delivery. For this reason it is imperative for mothers to access facility-based child-birth care to receive skilled birth care. Mothers report dissatisfaction with facility-based child-birth care as one of the reasons for home births without skilled attendants. The presence of the skilled birth attendants is known to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates because of their ability to diagnose any early complications, and to intervene appropriately. Aim: The aim of the current study was to develop an in-service training programme for midwives to provide patient-centred child-birth care that would increase client satisfaction with child-birth care. Method and findings: The intervention research model by Rothman and Thomas (1994) – Design and development (D & D) – was used as the research framework. Only the first four of the six phases of the D & D model were applied in this study. In the first phase, a situational analysis was done using a qualitative study. The expectations, experiences, and satisfaction with child-birth care of antenatal and postnatal mothers, were explored. The research was conducted in four health institutions within the Kumasi Metropolis. Between 12 and 15 participants were purposively sampled in each hospital. Data were collected by means of individual in-depth interviews using an interview guide and data were analysed using content analysis. The study found that mothers expected to receive respectful care and safe care. Mothers had encouraging experiences and discouraging experiences during their child-birth care. The discouraging experiences did not align with their expectations of care, leading to dissatisfaction with child-birth care. In the second phase of the study an integrative literature review was conducted to identify evidence-based best practices to deal with client dissatisfaction with health care. The integrative literature review indicated that in-service training was commonly used as best-practice to improve health professionals' knowledge, skills and attitudes towards work and consequently to improve health outcomes for patients, including client satisfaction. In the third phase of the study, the in-service training programme to enhance patient-centred care was developed using Chinn and Kramer (2005) guidelines for programme development and steps to programme development by Management Sciences for Health (2012). The fourth phase entailed an assessment of feasibility and usability of the in-service training programme using 6 midwives in a district Hospital. The procedure was guided by the I-Tech Technical Implementation guide (2010). The outcomes of the assessment was used to refine and revise the developed in-service training programme. Conclusion: This study sought to develop an intervention to increase client satisfaction with child-birth care service by engaging the following processes in phases: • Assessing the expectations and experiences of mothers about child-birth care services. • An integrative literature review for evidence-based best practice to tackle client dissatisfaction with health care. • Designing a patient-centred care in-service training programme together with experts in the field of maternal and child health. • As assessment of feasibility and usability of the in-service training programme by means of a pilot test to refine the programme. Recommendations: It was recommended among others that, the study is carried out on a national scale to cover all administrative regions of Ghana. It is further recommended that the study findings and the programme developed form part of the continuous professional assessment course requirement for nurses and midwives

Factors influencing the free maternal health care policy under the national health insurance scheme’s provision for skilled delivery services in Ghana: a narrative literature review

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2023-02-14, registration 2023-05-23, accepted 2023-05-23, epub 2023-06-14, online 2023-06-14, collection 2023-12Acknowledgements: We acknowledge Professor Karina Kielmann for making significant intellectual inputs to this review article.Publication status: PublishedSophie Witter - ORCID: 0000-0002-7656-6188 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7656-6188Background: Skilled Birth Attendance (SBA) is important in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.1. Ghana has made steady progress in SBA, yet, unsupervised deliveries still occur. The introduction of the Free Maternal Health Care Policy under the National Health Insurance Scheme (FMHCP under the NHIS) has improved the uptake of SBA but with some implementation challenges. This narrative review sought to explore the factors influencing the FMHCP under the NHIS provision for skilled delivery services in Ghana. Methods: Electronic searches were conducted of databases including PubMed, Popline, Science direct, BioMed Central, Scopus and Google scholar for peer reviewed articles as well as grey articles from other relevant sources, published between 2003 and 2021 on factors influencing FMHCP/NHIS provision for skilled delivery services in Ghana. Keywords used in the literature search were in various combinations for the different databases. The articles were screened to determine the inclusion and exclusion criteria and quality was assessed using a published critical appraisal checklist. A total of 516 articles were retrieved for initial screening based on their titles, of which 61 of them, were further screened by reading their abstracts and full text. Of this number, 22 peer-reviewed and 4 grey articles were selected for the final review based on their relevance. Results: The study revealed that the FMHCP under the NHIS does not cover the full costs associated with skilled delivery and low socioeconomic status of households affects SBA. Also, funding and sustainability, hinders the quality-of-service delivery offered by the policy. Conclusion: For Ghana to achieve the SDGs above and further improve SBA, the cost associated with skilled delivery should be fully covered by the NHIS. Also, the government and the key stakeholders involved in the policy implementation, must put in place measures that will enhance the operation and the financial sustainability of the policy.pubpu

A scoping review of the residual barriers to skilled birth attendance in Ghana: A conceptual framework and a fish bone analysis

From PLOS via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2023-07-06, collection 2024, accepted 2024-01-18, epub 2024-02-12Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge Professor Kielmann Karina, for her valuable contributions to this review.Publication status: PublishedSophie Witter - ORCID: 0000-0002-7656-6188 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7656-6188The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.1 is strongly dependent on the effective utilization of skilled birth services. Despite advancements made in Skilled Birth Attendance (SBA) in Ghana, there are still instances of unassisted childbirths taking place. The aim of this study was to explore the residual barriers of SBA such as community- and health system-related factors affecting SBA in Ghana and to identify strategies for addressing them. An electronic search was done using PubMed, Popline, Science direct, BioMed Central, Scopus and Google scholar for peer reviewed articles as well as grey articles from other relevant sources, published between 200 and 2022 on community- and health system related factors influencing SBA in Ghana. Out of the 89 articles retrieved for full screening, a total of 52 peer-reviewed articles and 1 grey article were selected for the final review. The study revealed that cultural practices (community factors), low quality of service delivery due to the inappropriate behaviors, lack of competency of skilled birth attendants (SBAs) as well as the inefficient distribution of SBAs contribute to ineffective uptake of SBA (health system factors). Also, indirect costs are associated with the utilization of skilled delivery care even with the existence of ‘free’ delivery care policy under the national health insurance (policy factor). For Ghana to achieve the SDGs above and improve SBA, it is essential to enhance the quality of skilled delivery care by addressing the attitude and competencies of skilled birth professionals, while plans are put in place to expand and develop the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) strategy to help address the access barriers to SBA. More so, the ‘free’ delivery care policy should absorb all the costs associated with skilled delivery for pregnant women as it is intended for.pubpu

Health system barriers influencing timely breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among women in low and middle-income Asian countries: evidence from a mixed-methods systematic review

Background Globally, breast cancer is the most common cancer type and the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in developing countries. A high prevalence of late breast cancer diagnosis and treatment has been reported predominantly in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), including those in Asia. Thus, this study utilized a mixed-methods systematic review to synthesize the health system barriers influencing timely breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among women in Asian countries. Methods We systematically searched five electronic databases for studies published in English from 2012 to 2022 on health system barriers that influence timely breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among women in Asian countries. The review was conducted per the methodology for systematic reviews and reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, while health system barriers were extracted and classified based on the World Health Organization (WHO)‘s Health Systems Framework. The mixed-methods appraisal tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Results Twenty-six studies were included in this review. Fifteen studies were quantitative, nine studies were qualitative, and two studies used a mixed-methods approach. These studies were conducted across ten countries in Asia. This review identified health systems barriers that influence timely breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. The factors were categorized under the following: (1) delivery of health services (2) health workforce (3) financing for health (4) health information system and (5) essential medicines and technology. Delivery of health care (low quality of health care) was the most occurring barrier followed by the health workforce (unavailability of physicians), whilst health information systems were identified as the least barrier. Conclusion This study concluded that health system factors such as geographical accessibility to treatment, misdiagnosis, and long waiting times at health facilities were major barriers to early breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among Asian women in LMICs. Eliminating these barriers will require deliberate health system strengthening, such as improving training for the health workforce and establishing more healthcare facilities

Lessons learnt from a scientific peer-review training programme designed to support research capacity and professional development in a global community

High-quality peer-reviewer training open to researchers across the globe has the potential to improve the published literature, however, this type of training is not widely available. In this paper, we describe an online peer-reviewer training programme, highlight its effectiveness in building peer review and writing skills, and discuss challenges and lessons learnt. This training programme, open to researchers across the globe, acquaints participants with challenges to and inequities in publishing and educates them about writing effective peer reviews. A focal point is how to provide specific and respectful feedback to help authors get accepted for peer review at an academic journal. Forty-nine participants from or residing in six continents completed the training. All programme evaluation respondents agreed that the orientation helped them gain a better understanding of their role as a peer reviewer at Pre-Publication Support Service. Most agreed that the training was helpful in improving their peer-review skills, and that the training was helpful in improving their writing skills. Participants wanted more networking and collaboration opportunities with other peer reviewers, inclusion of a qualitatively researched example paper and improved communication about the required time commitment. Our online programme with multiple time options was geographically inclusive but internet connectivity was challenging for some participants. Peer-reviewer training programmes can help researchers build their peer review and writing skills and enhance participants’ understanding of disparities in publishing. Integrating a geographically diverse group of researchers has the potential to enrich the discussions and learning in such a programme

Rural–urban dimensions of the perception of malaria severity and practice of malaria preventive measures:insight from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey

Morbidities and mortalities caused by malaria are still a serious issue in Nigeria, with the country accounting for 25% of malaria morbidities and 24% of malaria mortalities globally in 2018. Treated bed nets reduce the incidence of malaria, but not all Nigerians use them. This study aimed to examine the factors associated with treated bed net usage, including perceived severity of malaria, and the rural-urban differences in the relationship between socio-demographic factors and use of treated bed nets in Nigeria. The analytic sample size comprised 40,693 women aged 15-49 years. Poisson regression and bivariable and multivariable analyses were used to test the study hypothesis that women who agreed that malaria could potentially lead to death would be more likely to adopt malaria preventive measures, including treated bed net use. About 48% of the women slept under a treated mosquito net the night before the survey. Those who perceived that malaria could lead to death had a higher likelihood of using a treated bed net in the urban, rural and combined samples. However, in the multivariable model, the association between perceived malaria severity and use of a treated bed net was only significant for rural women (APR=0.964, 95% CI: 0.933, 0.996). The results unexpectedly suggest that rural Nigerian women who perceive malaria to be severe have a lower likelihood of using treated bed nets. Also, rural-urban variations in the relationship between the socio-demographic variables and use of treated bed nets were observed. Policies should consider the observed rural-urban dichotomy in the influence of perceived severity of malaria and other socio-demographic factors on women's use of treated bed nets in Nigeria

Predicting factors that determine patients' satisfaction with post-operative pain management following abdominal surgeries at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.

IntroductionPoorly controlled postoperative pain has been known to be characterized by longer post-operative care, longer hospital stays with increased readmission rates, and decreased patient satisfaction. Post-operative pain has been continuously addressed in the past three (3) to four (4) decades and has been shown that 20 to 80% of post-operative patients suffer ineffective pain management.ObjectiveThe study was aimed at assessing the factors that may predict the satisfaction of patients with early postoperative pain management following abdominal surgeries at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi.MethodologyA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients who had undergone abdominal surgeries between October 2019 and December 2019 at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Structured questionnaires based on the IPO-Q were used to obtain responses from the patients. Descriptive and Inferential statistical analysis were employed in analyzing the data obtained from the respondents of the study.Results138 patients were involved in this study. The mean age of patients in the study was 45.81 (±16.81) years. A higher percentage, 58.7% of the patients were males. 39.1% had completed their tertiary level of education. The majority (50.7%) of the patients had had persistent pain for more than three (3) months. The satisfaction of the patients with the post-operative pain management received was generally high among a significant majority of the patients. Meanwhile, among the factors that influence the satisfaction of the patients with the post-operative pain management received, type of analgesia and pain relief methods (Pearson Coefficient = 0.523, p-value ConclusionThis study found out that patients were generally satisfied with the post-operative pain management offered by their healthcare providers although the degree of satisfaction depended largely on the type of analgesia and pain relief methods, the ability to request for more pain relief, and access to information on pain treatment

Caregiving motivations and experiences among family caregivers of patients living with advanced breast cancer in Ghana.

INTRODUCTION:Significant number of women present with advanced-stage breast cancer in Ghana. These women usually depend on family caregivers for their multi-dimensional needs. Yet, there are gaps in research about what motivates family caregivers to assume the caring role and their experiences with caregiving within the Ghanaian context. AIM:To explore and describe the caregiving motivations and experiences among family caregivers of patients living with advanced breast cancer. METHODS:In-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 family caregivers who were providing unpaid care for women living with advanced breast cancer. Colaizzi's thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS:Family relationship normally prescribed the caregiving role among family caregivers. Due to the lack of home-based palliative services in Ghana, findings suggest that family caregivers are the main managers of advanced breast cancer-related symptoms in the home. These findings are discussed under three major themes: (i) motivation for assuming the caregiving role; (ii) meeting self-care and psychosocial needs of the patient; and (iii) symptom management and monitoring. CONCLUSION:Socio-cultural values influence the role of family caregivers in Ghana. This presents opportunities for health professionals and relevant stakeholders to develop a culturally-appropriate intervention to support informal caregivers in their home-based care for women living with advanced breast cancer in Ghana

Correction: Exploring midwives' understanding of respectful maternal care in Kumasi, Ghana: Qualitative inquiry.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220538.]