Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-Natal
Background: There exists a major disparity in access to specialist care between patients in urban and rural areas. Specialists are a scarce resource and are concentrated in urban areas. Specialist outreach attempts to fill the gap in service provision for patients situated remotely. While there is i...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AOSIS
2018-05-01
|
| Series: | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/1690 |
| _version_ | 1818543192423792640 |
|---|---|
| author | Robert I. Caldwell Merridy Grant Bernard Gaede Colleen Aldous |
| author_facet | Robert I. Caldwell Merridy Grant Bernard Gaede Colleen Aldous |
| author_sort | Robert I. Caldwell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: There exists a major disparity in access to specialist care between patients in urban and rural areas. Specialists are a scarce resource and are concentrated in urban areas. Specialist outreach attempts to fill the gap in service provision for patients situated remotely. While there is international evidence that multifaceted specialist outreach has achieved varying levels of success, factors that influence the effectiveness of outreach have not yet been fully elucidated in South Africa.
Aim: This study attempts to uncover some of the factors that enable good multifaceted specialist outreach.
Setting: The study was conducted in hospitals in western KwaZulu-Natal province. This health area is served by a tertiary hospital and 20 peripheral hospitals; three of these are regional level and the majority are district level hospitals. Specialist outreach emanates from the tertiary hospital.
Methods: Specialists providing outreach services from the tertiary hospital and medical officers at seven receiving hospitals were interviewed to explore perceptions regarding factors that might enable successful specialist outreach. Framework analysis on the transcribed interviews was carried out using NVivo version 11.
Results: A major positive finding concerns the relationships formed between outreach specialists and doctors at the recipient hospitals. The management of the programme with respect to structure, dependability, data management, transport provision, communication technology and public health systems was also seen as beneficial in specialist outreach.
Conclusion: Specialist outreach plays an essential role in providing equality in health care. To enable effectiveness, it is important to make full use of the multifaceted nature of this intervention. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:32:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8a5c18f9cd7244d598c8de1365b209e2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2071-2928 2071-2936 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:32:07Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-8a5c18f9cd7244d598c8de1365b209e22022-12-22T00:48:05ZengAOSISAfrican Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine2071-29282071-29362018-05-01101e1e1010.4102/phcfm.v10i1.1690529Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-NatalRobert I. Caldwell0Merridy Grant1Bernard Gaede2Colleen Aldous3School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-NatalSchool of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-NatalSchool of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-NatalSchool of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-NatalBackground: There exists a major disparity in access to specialist care between patients in urban and rural areas. Specialists are a scarce resource and are concentrated in urban areas. Specialist outreach attempts to fill the gap in service provision for patients situated remotely. While there is international evidence that multifaceted specialist outreach has achieved varying levels of success, factors that influence the effectiveness of outreach have not yet been fully elucidated in South Africa. Aim: This study attempts to uncover some of the factors that enable good multifaceted specialist outreach. Setting: The study was conducted in hospitals in western KwaZulu-Natal province. This health area is served by a tertiary hospital and 20 peripheral hospitals; three of these are regional level and the majority are district level hospitals. Specialist outreach emanates from the tertiary hospital. Methods: Specialists providing outreach services from the tertiary hospital and medical officers at seven receiving hospitals were interviewed to explore perceptions regarding factors that might enable successful specialist outreach. Framework analysis on the transcribed interviews was carried out using NVivo version 11. Results: A major positive finding concerns the relationships formed between outreach specialists and doctors at the recipient hospitals. The management of the programme with respect to structure, dependability, data management, transport provision, communication technology and public health systems was also seen as beneficial in specialist outreach. Conclusion: Specialist outreach plays an essential role in providing equality in health care. To enable effectiveness, it is important to make full use of the multifaceted nature of this intervention.https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/1690Specialist OutreachMultifacetedRural AreasEnabling Factors for Successful OutreachInterviews with Participating Doctors |
| spellingShingle | Robert I. Caldwell Merridy Grant Bernard Gaede Colleen Aldous Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-Natal African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine Specialist Outreach Multifaceted Rural Areas Enabling Factors for Successful Outreach Interviews with Participating Doctors |
| title | Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-Natal |
| title_full | Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-Natal |
| title_fullStr | Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-Natal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-Natal |
| title_short | Enabling factors for specialist outreach in western KwaZulu-Natal |
| title_sort | enabling factors for specialist outreach in western kwazulu natal |
| topic | Specialist Outreach Multifaceted Rural Areas Enabling Factors for Successful Outreach Interviews with Participating Doctors |
| url | https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/1690 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT roberticaldwell enablingfactorsforspecialistoutreachinwesternkwazulunatal AT merridygrant enablingfactorsforspecialistoutreachinwesternkwazulunatal AT bernardgaede enablingfactorsforspecialistoutreachinwesternkwazulunatal AT colleenaldous enablingfactorsforspecialistoutreachinwesternkwazulunatal |