Health workers' perceptions on data-informed decision-making practices in primary health care units at Awi zone, northwest Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Data-informed decision making is influenced by organizational, technical,and behavioral factors. Behavioral factors are the major contributing factorsfor data-informed decision-makingpractices. This study aimed to explorehealth workers'perceptionsofdata-informed decision making at primary health care units inAwi zone.Method:A cross-sectional qualitative study was undertaken to explore health workers'perceptionson the barriers of health data-informed decision-makingpractices. Eleven healthcare workers were purposively selected from primary hospitals, health centers and health posts. Medical doctors, nurses, midwifesand health extension workers were selected askey informantsfor the in-depth interview.The selected healthcare workers were asked about theirperceptionsthat affect health data usepractices.The data obtained was analyzedthroughthematic analysis using Open Codesoftware. Analysis was performed usingthree themes namely,organizational, behavioral,and technicalbarriers of data-informed decision making. Results:All the health care workers including health extension workers utilizedadata-informed decision-makingpractice atleast once duringtheirpoint of care. Five ofthe eleven key informants reported their data-informed decision-makingpractice asreviewingquality of facility data, while none of them reported data-informed decision-makingpracticesfor their monthly performancemonitoring. Behavioral factors includednegligence, workarounds,and skill gaps.Organizational factors includedstaff turnover and shortage of recording tools.Technical factors includedhigh workloads whichlead to data error and paper-based systemswere considered major barriers todata-informed decision-makingpractices.Conclusion:Data-informed decision-makingpracticeswerelow at primaryhealthcare units.Behavioral, organizational,and technical factors contributed to the decreased use of data.[Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2022; 36(2)000-000]KeywordsData-informed decision making, Perception, Organizational, Behavioral, Technical, Ethiopia