The perspectives of programme staff and recipients on the acceptability and benefits of the ward-based outreach teams in a South African province

0Citations
Citations of this article
60Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

The re-engineering of primary health care (PHC) called for the establishment of ward-based outreach teams as a reform strategy to bridge the gap between health facilities and communities. The Nkangala district established ward-based outreach teams in 2012. We used process evaluation to assess the acceptability of the outreach teams from the perspectives of those involved in the implementation as well as the clients who are the recipients of the outreach services in order to describe how the programme benefits the recipients, the staff, and the health system. Data were collected through interviews with multiple data sources. A thematic analysis was done using NVivo 11. The outreach programme is acceptable to the recipients and staff. The acceptability translated into measurable benefits for the recipients and the health system. Health benefits included increased access to services, support for treatment adherence, and linkages to various sector departments for social support. Since the inception of outreach teams, the district has recorded low utilisation of PHC services and improved priority indicators such as immunisation coverage, early antenatal bookings, treatment adherence, TB cure rates, and decreased default rates. The positive effects of the outreach teams on indicators underscore the need to roll the programme out to all sub-districts.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Nelson, C., & Madiba, S. (2020). The perspectives of programme staff and recipients on the acceptability and benefits of the ward-based outreach teams in a South African province. Healthcare (Switzerland), 8(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8040464

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free