Strengthening evidence-based planning of integrated health service delivery through local measures of health intervention delivery times

Abstract

Background. Immunization services in developing countries are increasingly used as platforms for delivery of other health interventions. A challenge for scaling up interventions on existing platforms is insufficient resources allocated to the integrated platform with the risk of overburdening a health worker. Determining the length of time to deliver priority interventions can be useful information in planning integrated services and mitigating this risk. We designed and tested a methodology for collecting the time needed to deliver selected interventions.Methodology.At 18 health facilities in Mali, Ethiopia, and Cameroon, we observed delivery of 11 maternal and child health interventions to determine delivery times. We interviewed health workers to estimate self-reported delivery times.Results.Based on observations, vitamin A supplementation (median, 2:00 minutes per child) and vaccinations (median, 2:22 minutes) took the least amount of time to deliver, whereas human immunodeficiency virus counseling and testing and sick infant treatment interventions were among the longest to deliver. Health worker-reported times to deliver interventions were consistently higher than observed times. Conclusions. Using locally-obtained data can be useful to step for planners to determine how best to use existing platforms for delivering new interventions, particularly since these interventions may require substantially more time to deliver compared to immunizations. © 2012 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.