 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Stephanie J Posner, MPH PhD, Department of International Health and Development, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, 301-718-3192, stephanie_posner@abtassoc.com and Rebecca A. Fields, MPH, CHANGE project, Academy for Educational Development, 1825 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009.
Peripheral level health workers in developing countries are often responsible for the initial collection, recording, and reporting of health data, yet often have little understanding of how or why such data are used. The information they collect usually serves unclear purpose and provides little benefit. Even when health workers are properly trained and have access to the tools needed to record and report data, evidence points to low health worker motivation to provide quality data in a timely way.
At the point of data collection, health worker motivation can be increased by improving understanding of the potential utility of information at the local level and at higher levels where it is collated, analyzed, and used to inform public health action. Strategies can include seeking input from health workers about how they currently value and use information, clarifying actions that result from using data, and providing feedback about the data that health workers provide.
The presentation will draw on experience from South Africa, Tanzania, Republic of Georgia and other countries regarding the value and use of health information for action by health workers at the point of data collection. It will describe such actions and program interventions to increase both health worker motivation and the overall value and utility of health information. These program interventions also take into account the how the context of the health system and the epidemiological attributes of disease control must be interwoven order to achieve improvements in health status.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Health Information Systems, Decision-Making
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Ministries of health.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.