Type 1 diabetes care delivery in Yaoundé, Cameroon: Social and political representations

Background: Increasing chronic diseases challenges the health systems of low- and middleincome countries, including Cameroon. Type 1 diabetes (T1D), among the most common chronic diseases in children, poses particular care delivery challenges. Aim: We examined social representations of patients' roles and implementation of T1D care among political decision-makers, healthcare providers and patients within families. Setting: The study was conducted in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Methods: Eighty-two individuals were included in the study. The authors conducted semistructured interviews with policy makers (n = 5), healthcare professionals (n = 7) and patients 'parents (n = 20). Questionnaires were administered to paediatric patients with T1D (n = 50). The authors also observed care delivery at a referral hospital and at a T1D-focused nongovernmental organisation over 15 days. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis and descriptive statistics. Results: Cameroonian health policy portrays patients with T1D as passive recipients of care. While many practitioners recognised the complex social and economic determinants of adherence to T1D care, in practice interactions focused on specific biomedical issues and offered brief guidance. Cultural barriers and policy implementation challenges prevent patients and their families from being fully active participants in care. Parents and children prefer an ongoing relationship with a single clinician and interactions with other patients and families. Conclusion: Patients and families mobilise experience and lay knowledge to complement biomedical knowledge, but top-down policy and clinical practice limit their active engagement in T1D care. Contribution: Children with T1D and their families, policy makers, healthcare professionals, and civil society have new opportunities to contribute to person-centred care, as advocated by the Sustainable Development Goals.

Construyendo puentes entre investigación y políticas para la extensión de la protección social en salud en América Latina y el Caribe: una estrategia de cooperación conjunta / Building bridges between research and policy to extend social protection in health in Latin America and the Caribbean: a strategy for cooperation

La Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) y el Centro Internacional de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo de Canadá (IDRC) han promovido una iniciativa conjunta para el diseño, ejecución y evaluación de estrategias de extensión de la protección social en salud en América Latina y el Caribe. Esta propuesta se basó en una revisión previa de la investigación sobre reformas del sector salud y en las recomendaciones del Taller La Reforma del Sector Salud en las Américas: Fortaleciendo los Vínculos entre Investigación y Políticas (Montreal, Canadá, 2001). En su primera fase la iniciativa impulsó el desarrollo de propuestas sobre extensión de la protección social en salud que fueron elaboradas en forma conjunta por investigadores y tomadores de decisión. En la segunda fase se apoyó la implementación de cinco de estas propuestas con el propósito de promover el desarrollo de nuevas estrategias de protección social en salud y fomentar nuevos modelos de interacción entre actores. En este número de la revista se analizan los procesos de vinculación entre investigadores y tomadores de decisión en los cinco proyectos apoyados por esta iniciativa.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) have promoted a joint initiative to design, implement, and evaluate innovative strategies for the Extension of Social Protection in Health (SPH) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), involving active partnership between researchers and research users. This initiative was based on a previous review of research on health sector reforms and the recommendations of the workshop on "Health Sector Reforms in the Americas: Strengthening the Links between Research and Policy" (Montreal, Canada, 2001). In its first phase, the initiative supported the development of proposals aiming to extend SPH, elaborated jointly by researchers and decision-makers. In the second phase, the implementation of five of these proposals was supported in order to promote the development of new SPH strategies and new stakeholder interaction models. In this edition of the journal, the process of linking researchers and decision-makers will be analyzed in the context of the five projects supported by this initiative.