"PHC Leadership: Are Health Centres in Good Hands?Perspectives from 3 districts in Malawi"""

"The study aimed to document the kinds of leadership styles are practiced at health centres (H/C) and how these styles can be explained by the contexts; characteristics of the health centre in charge (IC) and subordinate trained health staff (STHS). Methods A well-researched leadership style model was applied; which included task; relation and change styles. This is a cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires in 47 H/C in 3 districts. 347 STHSs (95) and 46 ICs (98) responded. Questions explored background data and perceived leadership behaviour. Style items were factor analysed; and bivariate analyses and hierarchical regressions determined how styles could be explained. Results Two leadership styles were revealed: ""Trans""style contained all relation and the majority of task and change items; ""Control"" style focused on health statistics (Health Management Information System); reporting and evaluation. STHS and IC had a median age/median work experience of 34/5 years and 38;5/2 years; respectively. 48"

Patient Identification and Hospital Information Management Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Prospective Study in Rwanda and Burundi

For many sub-Saharan health facilities; accurate patient identification remains a challenge. Poor national person identification systems; inefficient identification procedures; the use of weak search criteria and sometimes fraudulent practice consist some of the underlying causes. In this study; patient identification effectiveness has been compared between 27 sub-Saharan hospitals using paper based procedures and 6 health facilities in the same region that had implemented a hospital information management system. Based on a simple metric; results show a significant (p0.001) improvement reducing identification errors from 64.6 before to 2.3 after information system implementation in a sample of 1 private and 5 public hospitals in Rwanda and Burundi

Pharmacy Students Perception of the Application of Learning Management System in Patient-oriented Pharmacy Education: University of Benin Experience

Objective: To evaluate pharmacy students' perception of the application of learning management system (LMS) in their education in a Doctor of Pharmacy program in Benin City. Method: In a special ICT class; 165 pharmacy students were introduced to LMS using an open source program; DoceboO after which a questionnaire with core questions in five domains; namely; sociodemographic data; access to computer and internet; problems in applying ICT facilities; perception of e-learning and LMS was administered. Students' responses to the questionnaire were analysed. Results: Although most students (84) had access to internet; only 16.1owned computers and majority (82.1) use cybercafes for internet access. Frequent electric power failure; inadequate computer facilities; skilled personnel; and slow internet speed were identified by 64.8-82.5of the students as problems in using computer facilities in the University. While willingness to pay was not considered a problem; 80.4of the students were only willing to pay not more than US$ 7.96 per semester for internet access. Over 92of them felt that LMS will make teaching and learning more exciting and effective when combined with the traditional teaching approach. Conclusion: The use of LMS will improve the teaching and learning of pharmacy students

The Reliability and Usability of District Health Information Software : Case Studies from Tanzania

The District Health Information System (DHIS) software from the Health Information System Programme (HISP) based in South Africa is widely implemented in many developing countries as a health data analysis tool. Through the HISP Tanzania project; the DHIS was piloted in five districts in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to qualify and quantify the extent to which district health workers consider the adaptation of the DHIS software to the needs of the routine health management information system. In a period of 14 months (from June 2003 to August 2004) data were collected from health workers trained to use the software through a triangulation of various qualitative data collection techniques including interview; questionnaire; participant observations and retrospective testing. The software was evaluated in terms of reliability; usability and user satisfaction. In general the reliability of the software was rated high but its usability was rated to be low. The software was found not to accommodate some health data from various health programmes and there was a mismatch between the implemented online data entry forms/reports and their respective paper-based forms/reports. The study recommends improved design of the DHIS user interface (forms) and reports to replicate the paper-based forms in order to assure usability and reduce the incidences and impact of human errors in the keying-in of health data

The background to the Algiers Declaration and the Framework for its Implementation to Improve Health Systems

The Algiers Declaration on Narrowing the Knowledge Gap to Improve Africa's Health was adopted during a Conference held in Algiers; Algeria; in June 2008. The Conference; which brought Ministers from the African Region together with researchers; nongovernmental organizations; donors; and the private sector; renewed commitments to narrow the knowledge gap in order to improve health development and health equity in the Region. This paper describes the background to the Algiers Declaration and the Framework for its implementation and their signifi cance in assisting countries' eff orts to strengthen health systems in the Region