Sustaining change in maternal and child health: Perspectives from public health officials in Gambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia, and Uganda
2023 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Background: WHO guidelines' clarity on evidence-based quality midwifery practice emphasizes that knowledge should be translated into practice with adherence to recommended quality of midwifery care. The MIDWIZE Capacity Building Training Program was established to build the capacity of public health officials by ensuring that midwifery and maternal health care is consistent with international guidelines. The Capacity Building Training Program ensures that public health officials are trained in the field of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health by following a MIDWIZE care model which adheres to the WHO guidelines' clarity on evidence-based quality midwifery practice. However, there is a gap in knowledge on what facilitates and sustains change and what inhibits change when quality improvement interventions are made in maternal and child health.
Aim: To examine what brings change, what inhibits change, and what sustains change in Maternal and Child Health from the views of public health officials in five East African Countries.
Methodology: Qualitative content analysis with a deductive research approach.
Ethical Considerations: No ethical approval was needed to conduct this study.
Result: The authors identified the government as being the central mandatory authority to facilitate and sustain change. The results emphasized the importance of evidence-based practice and using a multi-sectoral approach to facilitate change. An inhibitor to change was found to be an inadequate skilled workforce.
Conclusion: The strategies mentioned by the participants in what facilitates and sustains change have been backed up by previous research and they are key to attaining positive outcomes in maternal and child health.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023.
Keywords [en]
Capacity Building Training Program, Africa, Gambia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Somalia, Maternal and Child Health, Sustainable change
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-46386OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-46386DiVA, id: diva2:1780282
Subject / course
Sexual Reproductive Perinatal Health
2023-07-052023-07-05