Search

Background: The urine Determine LAM test has the potential to identify tuberculosis (TB) and reduce early mortality among people living with HIV. However, implementation of the test in practice has been slow. We aimed to understand how a Determine LAM intervention was received and worked in a Ghanaian in-hospital context., Design/methods: Nested in a Determine LAM intervention study, we conducted a two-phase explanatory sequential mixed methods study at three hospitals in Ghana between January 2021 and January 2022. We performed a quantitative survey with 81 healthcare workers (HCWs), four qualitative focus-group discussions with 18 HCWs, and 15 in-depth HCW interviews. Integration was performed at the methods and analysis level. Descriptive analysis, qualitative directed content analysis, and mixed methods joint display were used., Results: The gap in access to TB testing when relying on sputum GeneXpert MTB/Rif alone was explained by difficulties in obtaining sputum samples and an in-hospital system that relies on relatives. The Determine LAM test procedure was experienced as easy, and most eligible patients received a test. HCWs expressed that immediate access to Determine LAM tests empowered them in rapid diagnosis. The HCW survey confirmed that bedside was the most common place for Determine LAM testing, but qualitative interviews with nurses revealed concerns about patient confidentiality when performing and disclosing the test results at the bedside. Less than half of Determine LAM-positive patients were initiated on TB treatment, and qualitative data identified a weak link in the communication of the Determine LAM results. Moreover, HCWs were reluctant to initiate Determine LAM-positive patients on TB treatment due to test specificity concerns. The Determine LAM intervention did not have an impact on the time to TB treatment as expected, but patients were, in general, initiated on TB treatment rapidly. We further identified a barrier to accessing TB treatment during weekends and that treatment by tradition is administrated early in the morning., Conclusion: The Determine LAM testing was feasible and empowered HCWs in the management of HIV-associated TB. Important gaps in routine care and Determine LAM-enhanced TB care were often explained by the context. These findings may inform in-hospital quality improvement work and scale-up of Determine LAM in similar settings., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Åhsberg, Tersbøl, Puplampu, Kwashie, Commey, Adusi-Poku, Moseholm, Andersen, Kenu, Lartey, Johansen and Bjerrum.)

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a common challenge in healthcare delivery, with a significant burden in low- and middle-income countries. Preventing HAIs has gained enormous attention from policy makers and healthcare managers and providers, especially in resource-limited settings. Despite policies to enforce infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to prevent HAIs, IPC compliance remains a challenge in hospital settings. In this study, we explore the experiences of healthcare providers and women in the post-natal phase and investigate factors influencing IPC practices in two hospitals in Ghana., Methods: The study used a qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and observations among healthcare providers and women in the postnatal phase in two maternity units from January 2019 to June 2019. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis. The data sets were uploaded into the qualitative software NVivo 12 to facilitate coding and analysis., Findings: Healthcare providers were driven by the responsibility to provide medical care for their patients and at the same time, protect themselves from infections. IPC facilitators include leadership commitment and support, IPC training and education. Women were informed about IPC in educational talks during antenatal care visits, and their practices were also shaped by their background and their communities. IPC barriers include the poor documentation or 'invisibility' of HAIs, low prioritization of IPC tasks, lack of clear IPC goals and resources, discretionary use of guidelines, and communication-related challenges. The findings demonstrate the need for relevant power holders to position themselves as key drivers of IPC and develop clear goals for IPC. Hospital managers need to take up the responsibility of providing the needed resources and leadership support to facilitate IPC. Patient engagement should be more strategic both within the hospital and at the community level., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Same-sex attracted men in Tanzania and globally carry a disproportionate burden of HIV. Drawing on qualitative research, this article explores healthcare providers' ideas and recommendations regarding how to improve HIV prevention among same-sex attracted men., Methods: We carried out a qualitative study among healthcare workers in the cities of Dar es Salaam and Tanga in Tanzania between August 2018 and October 2019. Data were collected using qualitative methods of data collection, specifically in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation. Study participants were recruited through a purposive sampling strategy that aimed to ensure variation in age, education, and work experience. Forty-eight interviews with 24 healthcare workers, six focus group discussions, and participant observation were conducted. A total of 64 persons participated in the study., Results: This paper describes five different "ways of reasoning" that were identified among healthcare workers regarding how to strengthen HIV prevention among same-sex attracted men. One held that punitive measures should be taken to prevent HIV transmission, another that health services needed to become more friendly towards men who have sex with men, a third that healthcare workers should reach out to provide more education to this population, a fourth called for strengthened collaboration between healthcare providers and same-sex attracted men in healthcare delivery, and the fifth proposed that activistic efforts be taken to remove structural barriers for same-sex attracted men to access healthcare., Conclusion: When reflecting on what is needed to strengthen HIV prevention among men who have sex with men, healthcare workers described six different ideas. One was that restrictive and punitive measures ought to be taken to prevent HIV transmission through same-sex sex. The remaining five promoted understanding of and support for same-sex attracted men. They prescribed more healthcare education, measures to improve attitudes among healthcare workers, healthcare delivery with user involvement, and political action to achieve law reform. Finally, some study participants raised concerns about the implementation of the national comprehensive package for key populations., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a global health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Infection prevention and control (IPC) remains an important strategy for preventing HAIs and improving the quality of care in hospital wards. The social environment and interactions in hospital wards are important in the quest to improve IPC. This study explored care practices and the interactions between healthcare providers and mothers in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in two Ghanaian hospitals and discusses the relevance for IPC., Methodology: This study draws on data from an ethnographic study using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions involving 43 healthcare providers and 72 mothers, and participant observations in the wards between September 2017 and June 2019. The qualitative data were analysed thematically using NVivo 12 to facilitate coding., Findings: Mothers of hospitalized babies faced various challenges in coping with the hospital environment. Mothers received sparse information about their babies' medical conditions and felt intimidated in the contact with providers. Mothers strategically positioned themselves as learners, guardians, and peers to enable them to navigate the clinical and social environment of the wards. Mothers feared that persistent requests for information might result in their being labelled "difficult mothers" or might impact the care provided to their babies. Healthcare providers also shifted between various positionings as professionals, caregivers, and gatekeepers, with the tendency to exercise power and maintain control over activities on the ward., Conclusion: The socio-cultural environment of the wards, with the patterns of interaction and power, reduces priority to IPC as a form of care. Effective promotion and maintenance of hygiene practices require cooperation, and that healthcare providers and mothers find common grounds from which to leverage mutual support and respect, and through this enhance care for mothers and babies, and develop stronger motivation for promoting IPC., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Sunkwa-Mills et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Objective: The World Health Organization recognizes abortion as essential health care and has encouraged governments to ensure access to abortion services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the threat of infection combined with government responses to COVID-19 have impacted access to abortion services globally. This study explores access to abortion in Germany during the pandemic., Methods: This study used a mixed-methods design. An analysis of data collected by Women on Web (WoW) was carried out to assess women's reasons for choosing telemedicine abortion outside the formal health system in Germany during the pandemic. Descriptive statistics were generated for 2057 requests for telemedicine abortion received by WoW between March 2020-March 2021. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight healthcare professionals involved in the provision of abortion services to explore how they perceive of women's access to abortion services in Germany during the pandemic., Results: The quantitative analysis found that preferences and needs for privacy (47.3%), secrecy (44.4%) and comfort (43.9%) were the most common reasons for choosing telemedicine abortion. COVID-19 was another important reason (38.8%). The thematic analysis of the interviews was organized into two overarching themes: service provision, and axes of difference., Conclusions: The pandemic affected the provision of abortion services as well as the circumstances of women seeking abortion. The main barriers to access were financial constraints, privacy issues, and lack of abortion providers. Throughout the pandemic, accessing abortion services was more difficult for many women in Germany, especially women experiencing multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Coauthors HR and BT declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Coauthors RG and HA work for or are affiliated with WoW., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a serious threat to patient safety worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Reducing the burden of HAIs through the observation and enforcement of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices remains a priority. Despite growing emphasis on HAI prevention in low- and middle-income countries, limited evidence is available to improve IPC practices to reduce HAIs. This study examined the perspectives of healthcare providers (HPs) and mothers in the neonatal intensive care unit on HAIs and determined the major barriers and facilitators to promoting standard IPC practices. This study draws on data from an ethnographic study using 38 in-depth interviews, four focus group discussions and participant observation conducted among HPs and mothers in neonatal intensive care units of a secondary- and tertiary-level hospital in Ghana. The qualitative data were analysed using a grounded theory approach, and NVivo 12 to facilitate coding. HPs and mothers demonstrated a modest level of understanding about HAIs. Personal, interpersonal, community, organizational and policy-level factors interacted in complex ways to influence IPC practices. HPs sometimes considered HAI concerns to be secondary in the face of a heavy clinical workload, a lack of structured systems and the quest to protect professional authority. The positive attitudes of some HPs, and peer interactions promoted standard IPC practices. Mothers expressed interest in participation in IPC activities. It however requires systematic efforts by HPs to partner with mothers in IPC. Training and capacity building of HPs, provision of adequate resources and improving communication between HPs and mothers were recommended to improve standard IPC practices. We conclude that there is a need for institutionalizing IPC policies and strengthening strategies that acknowledge and value mothers' roles as caregivers and partners in IPC. To ensure this, HPs should be better equipped to prioritize communication and collaboration with mothers to reduce the burden of HAIs., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.)

Objective: To assess the quality of antibiotics sampled from authorised sales outlets (ATs) (i.e. hospitals/health centres, pharmacies and licensed chemical shops) and unauthorised sales outlets (UATs) (mainly street vendors) in Ghana and to explore the health-seeking behaviour of medicine consumers., Methods: The contents of 14 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in 348 sampled products were determined using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. Data on health-seeking practices were collected through entry and exit interviews and field observations from ATs and UATs., Results: It was observed that 66.38% of all sampled antibiotic products were substandard; they either contained less (<90%) or more API (>110%) than the label claim. Medicines from UATs recorded substantially less API contents than those from ATs (F (2,419)  = 43.01, P < 0.0001). For example, 90.54% of street vendor samples contained < 90% of the APIs. 75.93% of consumers often sought self-treatment with drugs without a prescription from UATs, as they perceived UATs as easily accessible, trustworthy and knowledgeable, and their medicines as inexpensive. These consumers rather thought of the formal healthcare providers as alternative sources., Conclusions: Consumers who purchase from UATs are at high risk of receiving substandard medicines. The quality of medicines in the national healthcare system, in the supply chain and in the distribution system needs to be monitored regularly to reduce the incidence of substandard medicines and their impact on antimicrobial resistance. The fight against substandard medicines needs to incorporate a full understanding of socioeconomic factors that drive consumer decisions regarding their health and choice of healthcare providers., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Health workers in many low-income countries are not adequately trained to deliver pregnant women safely. In response to this, the Safe Delivery App (SDA) has been developed, which provides animated clinical instruction videos in basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care. The SDA aims to improve knowledge and skills of health workers located in the periphery of the health system in order to improve quality of care and potentially save the lives of mothers and newborns. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the users' experiences with using the SDA and in which ways the SDA influences their work situation and their perceived ability to conduct safe deliveries., Methods: Eleven focus group discussions and four individual interviews were conducted with a total of 56 midwives, nurses and health extension workers from five districts in West Wollega Zone, Oromiya region of Ethiopia. The data further include observations and informal conversations. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, checked for corrections and analysed using systematic text condensation., Results: The findings indicate that health workers perceive the SDA as a useful tool, which helps them memorize and update knowledge and skills, and improves their confidence. User patterns follow the relevancy of the tool to the health workers' work situation - those who conduct many deliveries have more often used the app in emergency situations, whereas those who conduct few deliveries more often use it to improve their knowledge and to provide health education to pregnant women. Thus, the SDA is used in varying ways depending on internal and external factors such as own competencies, availability of equipment and frequency of births attended. Health workers experienced that community members showed more recognition and trust in their abilities and ascribed this to their increased confidence in assisting in deliveries. The increased recognition from communities may also be associated to a medical technology., Conclusion: The health workers perceive the SDA as having improved their ability to manage complications during childbirth and have gained increased recognition and trust from the communities.

Problem: Gaps exist between internationally derived clinical guidelines on care at the time of birth and realistic best practices in busy, low-resourced maternity units., Approach: In 2014-2018, we carried out the PartoMa study at Zanzibar's tertiary hospital, United Republic of Tanzania. Working with local birth attendants and external experts, we created easy-to-use and locally achievable clinical guidelines and associated in-house training to assist birth attendants in intrapartum care., Local Setting: Around 11 500 women gave birth annually in the hospital. Of the 35-40 birth attendants employed, each cared simultaneously for 3-6 women in labour. At baseline (1 October 2014 to 31 January 2015), there were 59 stillbirths per 1000 total births and 52 newborns with an Apgar score of 1-5 per 1000 live births. Externally derived clinical guidelines were available, but rarely used., Relevant Changes: Staff attendance at the repeated trainings was good, despite seminars being outside working hours and without additional remuneration. Many birth attendants appreciated the intervention and were motivated to improve care. Improvements were found in knowledge, partograph skills and quality of care. After 12 intervention months, stillbirths had decreased 34% to 39 per 1000 total births, while newborns with an Apgar score of 1-5 halved to 28 per 1000 live births., Lessons Learnt: After 4 years, birth attendants still express high demand for the intervention. The development of international, regional and national clinical guidelines targeted at low-resource maternity units needs to be better attuned to input from end-users and the local conditions, and thereby easier to use effectively.

Introduction: Antibiotic resistance, associated with inappropriate drug use, is a global public health threat. The pharmaceutical sectors in developing countries are poorly regulated leading to antibiotic sales and use without a prescription. The study documents the treatment of acute illnesses in households and the antibiotic dispensing practices of medicine sales outlets in Eastern region, Ghana., Method: Twice-weekly illness recall visits were made to 12 households in three rural communities over eight consecutive weeks. Detailed fieldnotes were taken and analysed using a thematic approach. Quantitative counts of health events and treatment were also conducted. Dispensing practices were systematically observed and documented in three rural and three urban medicine outlets for analysis., Result: Fever, abdominal, and respiratory symptoms were the most common causes of ill-health in the 12 households. Most (65%) medicine-use events involved self-treatment with pharmaceuticals; 40% of medicine-use events involved antibiotics, often without a prescription. Although the number of antibiotic transactions without prescription in rural medicine outlets (n = 139, 27.4%) was statistically significantly more than in urban pharmacies (n = 140, 13.5%); z = 6.7, p < .0001), the volume of antibiotics sold in pharmacies was higher. Penicillins were the most commonly dispensed antibiotics constituting 30% of antibiotic sales in urban medicine outlets and 46% in rural ones. The lack of controls in the dispensing of antibiotics, community knowledge and use of antibiotics in ways inconsistent with biomedical recommendations, poverty and perceived barriers to formal healthcare were factors that influenced the inappropriate use of antibiotics., Conclusion: Self-medication, including antibiotic self-prescription, constitutes an integral part of healthcare in the study settings and the qualitative data provides a contextual understanding of over-the-counter antibiotic acquisition and use. Inappropriate antibiotic use is apparent in the study settings. Stricter regulation of the pharmaceutical sector, training of dispensers and evidence-based treatment guidelines, and public education are potential interventions., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: While international guidelines for intrapartum care appear to have increased rapidly since 2000, literature suggests that it has only in few instances been matched with reviews of local modifications, use, and impact at the targeted low resource facilities. At a Tanzanian referral hospital, this paper describes the development process of locally achievable, partograph-associated, and peer-reviewed labour management guidelines, and it presents an assessment of professional birth attendants' perceptions., Methods: Part 1: Modification of evidence-based international guidelines through repeated evaluation cycles by local staff and seven external specialists in midwifery/obstetrics. Part 2: Questionnaire evaluation 12 months post-implementation of perceptions and use among professional birth attendants., Results: Part 1: After the development process, including three rounds of evaluation by staff and two external peer-review cycles, there were no major concerns with the guidelines internally nor externally. Thereby, international recommendations were condensed to the eight-paged 'PartoMa guidelines ©'. This pocket booklet includes routine assessments, supportive care, and management of common abnormalities in foetal heart rate, labour progress, and maternal condition. It uses colour codes indicating urgency. Compared to international guidelines, reductions were made in frequency of assessments, information load, and ambiguity. Part 2: Response rate of 84% (n = 84). The majority of staff (93%) agreed that the guidelines helped to improve care. They found the guidelines achievable (89%), and the graphics worked well (90%). Doctors more often than nurse-midwives (89% versus 74%) responded to use the guidelines daily., Conclusions: The PartoMa guidelines ensure readily available, locally achievable, and acceptable support for intrapartum surveillance, triage, and management. This is a crucial example of adapting evidence-based international recommendations to local reality., Trial Registration: This paper describes the intervention of the PartoMa trial, which is registered on ClinicalTrials.org ( NCT02318420 , 4th November 2014).

Background: Over the past decade there has been growing interest in the use of herbal medicine both in developed and developing countries. Given the high proportion of patients using herbal medicine in Ghana, some health facilities have initiated implementation of herbal medicine as a component of their healthcare delivery. However, the extent to which herbal medicine has been integrated in Ghanaian health facilities, how integration is implemented and perceived by different stakeholders has not been documented. The study sought to explore these critical issues at the Kumasi South Hospital (KSH) and outline the challenges and motivations of the integration process., Methods: Qualitative phenomenological exploratory study design involving fieldwork observations, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and key informants' interviews was employed to collect data., Results: Policies and protocols outlining the definition, process and goals of integration were lacking, with respondents sharing different views about the purpose and value of integration of herbal medicine within public health facilities. Key informants were supportive of the initiative. Whilst biomedical health workers perceived the system to be parallel than integrated, health personnel providing herbal medicine perceived the system as integrated. Most patients were not aware of the herbal clinic in the hospital but those who had utilized services of the herbal clinic viewed the clinic as part of the hospital., Conclusions: The lack of a regulatory policy and protocol for the integration seemed to have led to the different perception of the integration. Policy and protocol to guide the integration are key recommendations.

Development of antimicrobial resistance has been assigned to excess and misuse of antimicrobial agents. Staphylococci are part of the normal flora but are also potential pathogens that have become essentially resistant to many known antibiotics. Resistances in coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS) are suggested to evolve due to positive selective pressure following antibiotic treatment. This study investigated the presence of the nine most commonly used antimicrobial agents in human urine from outpatients in two hospitals in Ghana in relation to CoNS resistance. Urine and CoNS were sampled (n = 246 and n = 96 respectively) from patients in two hospitals in Ghana. CoNS were identified using Gram staining, coagulase test, and MALDI-TOF/MS, and the antimicrobial susceptibility to 12 commonly used antimicrobials was determined by disk diffusion. Moreover an analytical method was developed for the determination of the nine most commonly used antimicrobial agents in Ghana by using solid-phase extraction in combination with HPLC-MS/MS using electron spray ionization. The highest frequency of resistance to CoNS was observed for penicillin V (98%), trimethoprim (67%), and tetracycline (63%). S. haemolyticus was the most common isolate (75%), followed by S. epidermidis (13%) and S. hominis (6%). S. haemolyticus was also the species displaying the highest resistance prevalence (82%). 69% of the isolated CoNS were multiple drug resistant (≧ 4 antibiotics) and 45% of the CoNS were methicillin resistant. Antimicrobial agents were detected in 64% of the analysed urine samples (n = 121) where the most frequently detected antimicrobials were ciprofloxacin (30%), trimethoprim (27%), and metronidazole (17%). The major findings of this study was that the prevalence of detected antimicrobials in urine was more frequent than the use reported by the patients and the prevalence of resistant S. haemolyticus was more frequent than other resistant CoNS species when antimicrobial agents were detected in the urine.

Objective: We assessed how health system priorities matched user expectations and what the needs for antenatal care (ANC) strengthening were for improved maternal health in Jimma, Ethiopia., Methods: A questionnaire survey among all recent mothers in the study area was conducted to study the content of ANC and to identify the predictors of low ANC satisfaction. Further, a qualitative approach was applied to understand perceptions, practices, and policies of ANC., Results: There were no national guidelines for ANC in Ethiopia. Within the health system, the teaching of health professional students was given high priority, and that contributed to a lack of continuity and privacy. To the women, poor user-provider interaction was a serious concern hindering the trust in the health care providers. Further, the care provision was compromised by the inadequate laboratory facilities, unstructured health education, and lack of training of health professionals., Conclusions: Health system trials are needed to study the feasibility of ANC strengthening in the study area. Nationally and internationally, the leadership needs to be strengthened with supportive supervision geared towards building trust and mutual respect to protect maternal and infant health.

Background: Child mortality remains one of the major public-health problems in Tanzania. Delays in receiving and accessing adequate care contribute to these high rates. The literature on public health often focuses on the role of mothers in delaying treatment, suggesting that they contact the health system too late and that they prefer to treat their children at home, a perspective often echoed by health workers. Using the three-delay methodology, this study focus on the third phase of the model, exploring the delays experienced in receiving adequate care when mothers with a sick child contact a health-care facility. The overall objective is to analyse specific structural factors embedded in everyday practices at health facilities in a district in Tanzania which cause delays in the treatment of poor children and to discuss possible changes to institutions and social technologies., Methods: The study is based on qualitative fieldwork, including in-depth interviews with sixteen mothers who have lost a child, case studies in which patients were followed through the health system, and observations of more than a hundred consultations at all three levels of the health-care system. Data analysis took the form of thematic analysis., Results: Focusing on the third phase of the three-delay model, four main obstacles have been identified: confusions over payment, inadequate referral systems, the inefficient organization of health services and the culture of communication. These impediments strike the poorest segment of the mothers particularly hard. It is argued that these delaying factors function as 'technologies of social exclusion', as they are embedded in the everyday practices of the health facilities in systematic ways., Conclusion: The interviews, case studies and observations show that it is especially families with low social and cultural capital that experience delays after having contacted the health-care system. Reductions of the various types of uncertainty concerning payment, improved referral practices and improved communication between health staff and patients would reduce some of the delays within health facilities, which might feedback positively into the other two phases of delay.