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Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study
Introduction: Evidence from many countries suggests that provision of home and community-based health services, linked to care at fixed primary health care facilities, is critical to good health outcomes. In South Africa, the Ward-Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams are well placed to provide t...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8701860/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34946444 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9121718 |
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author | Mhlongo, Euphemia Mbali Lutge, Elizabeth |
author_facet | Mhlongo, Euphemia Mbali Lutge, Elizabeth |
author_sort | Mhlongo, Euphemia Mbali |
collection | PubMed |
description | Introduction: Evidence from many countries suggests that provision of home and community-based health services, linked to care at fixed primary health care facilities, is critical to good health outcomes. In South Africa, the Ward-Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams are well placed to provide these services. The teams report to a primary health care facility through their outreach team leader. The facility manager/operational manager provides guidance and support to the outreach team leader. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of facility managers regarding support and supervision of ward-based outreach teams in the National Health Insurance pilot sites in Kwa Zulu-Natal. Setting: The study was carried out in three National Health Insurance pilot districts in KwaZulu- Natal. Methods: An exploratory qualitative design was used to interview 12 primary health care facility managers at a sub-district (municipal) level. The researchers conducted thematic analysis of data. Findings: Some gaps in the supervisory and managerial relationships between ward based primary health care outreach teams and primary health care facility managers were identified. High workload at clinics may undermine the capacity of PHC facility managers to support and supervise the teams. Field supervision seems to take place only rarely and for those teams living far away from the clinic, communication with the clinic manager may be difficult. The study further highlights issues around the training and preparation of the teams. Conclusions: Ward based primary health care outreach teams have a positive impact in preventive and promotive health in rural communities. Furthermore, these teams have also made impact in improving facility indicators. However, their work does not happen without challenges. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8701860 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-87018602021-12-24 Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study Mhlongo, Euphemia Mbali Lutge, Elizabeth Healthcare (Basel) Article Introduction: Evidence from many countries suggests that provision of home and community-based health services, linked to care at fixed primary health care facilities, is critical to good health outcomes. In South Africa, the Ward-Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams are well placed to provide these services. The teams report to a primary health care facility through their outreach team leader. The facility manager/operational manager provides guidance and support to the outreach team leader. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of facility managers regarding support and supervision of ward-based outreach teams in the National Health Insurance pilot sites in Kwa Zulu-Natal. Setting: The study was carried out in three National Health Insurance pilot districts in KwaZulu- Natal. Methods: An exploratory qualitative design was used to interview 12 primary health care facility managers at a sub-district (municipal) level. The researchers conducted thematic analysis of data. Findings: Some gaps in the supervisory and managerial relationships between ward based primary health care outreach teams and primary health care facility managers were identified. High workload at clinics may undermine the capacity of PHC facility managers to support and supervise the teams. Field supervision seems to take place only rarely and for those teams living far away from the clinic, communication with the clinic manager may be difficult. The study further highlights issues around the training and preparation of the teams. Conclusions: Ward based primary health care outreach teams have a positive impact in preventive and promotive health in rural communities. Furthermore, these teams have also made impact in improving facility indicators. However, their work does not happen without challenges. MDPI 2021-12-13 /pmc/articles/PMC8701860/ /pubmed/34946444 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9121718 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Mhlongo, Euphemia Mbali Lutge, Elizabeth Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study |
title | Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study |
title_full | Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study |
title_fullStr | Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study |
title_short | Facility Managers’ Perceptions of Support and Supervision of Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in National Health Insurance Pilot Districts in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A Qualitative Study |
title_sort | facility managers’ perceptions of support and supervision of ward based primary health care outreach teams in national health insurance pilot districts in kwazulu-natal, south africa. a qualitative study |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8701860/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34946444 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9121718 |
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