Clinical Outreach Training and Supportive Supervision Quality-of-Care Analysis: Impact of Readiness Factors on Health Worker Competencies in Malaria Case Management in Cameroon, Mali, and Niger

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2023 Dec 26:tpmd230479. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.23-0479. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTImproving the quality of malaria clinical case management in health facilities is key to improving health outcomes in patients. The U.S. President's Malaria Initiative Impact Malaria Project has supported implementation of the outreach training and supportive supervision (OTSS) approach in 11 African countries to improve the quality of malaria care in health facilities through the collection and analysis of observation-based data on health facility readiness and health provider competency in malaria case management. We conducted a secondary analysis of longitudinal data collected during routine supervision in Cameroon (April 2021-March 2022), Mali (October 2020-December 2021), and Niger (November 2020-September 2021) using digitized checklists to assess how service readiness affects health worker competencies in managing patients with fever correctly and providing those with confirmed uncomplicated malaria cases with appropriate treatment and referral. Linear or logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the effect of facility readiness and its components on observed health worker competencies. All countries demonstrated significant associations between health facility readiness and malaria case management competencies. Data from three rounds of OTSS visits in Cameroon, Mali, and Niger showed a statistically significant positive association between greater facility ...
Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research