Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH), located in Cape Town, South Africa, is the only hospital in sub-Saharan Africa dedicated to children. It renders world–class public health-care services to sick children; 95% of which come from the poor, local and distant communities and require specialised treatment to recover. This case study aims to explore the factors associated with debt management and revenue-enhancing strategies in the Hospital Fees Department (HFD). The primary objective of the study is to examine the way in which the hospital manages outstanding debt and identify different empirical methods to improve revenue collection. In order to ensure the cost recovery of services, members of the public are billed and the expectation is, of course, for the bills to be paid. The hospital has a Hospital Information System (HIS) in place that consists of Clinicom and the Accounts Receivable System (ARS). The business design of Clinicom ensures that patient information is recorded and billed correctly. The ARS, on the other hand, ensures the collection of debt and reconciliation of state funds. The reason for choosing the HFD is that this component influences service delivery and funding. The importance of cost recovery to improve service delivery coincides with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and it is for this reason that people have the right to basic services. By making for sure revenues are collected, it ensures that the improved health-care services, to which they are entitled, are delivered to members of the public at the RCWMCH. The primary approach employed to collect information is made using structured questions and interviews with the members of the public and the RCWMCH management. The secondary approach is through the use of books in the field of finance, the HFD annual reports and policies. The study concludes with findings and makes recommendations to the RCWMCH management, the South African government and the academic arena at large. The researched information can be used as a tool to manage outstanding debt and improve revenue collection for the RCWMCH and other hospitals that face similar circumstances.

This research paper explores the use of creative arts therapies with children and families in a pediatric hospital setting as experienced by the therapists who provide these services. The research investigates art therapy, music therapy and dance/movement therapy at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), with an in depth consideration of the role of art therapy services in this setting. The researchers reviewed general literature regarding hospitalization, specifically its effects on children and families, availability and role of psychosocial services and the intensive care units (ICU). Literature discussing creative arts therapies (art therapy, music therapy and dance/movement therapy) was also reviewed, with a focus on art therapy and its role in medical settings with children/families, with pediatric cancer patients and in psychosocial services. Based on information gleaned from the literature review, the researchers crafted an online survey utilized to gather information regarding the experience of providing creative arts therapies in a pediatric hospital setting. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with three selected survey respondents to further explore these experiences through interview questions and art making. The qualitative data from survey/interview responses, including the art, was reviewed and analyzed by the researchers. Analysis of the data resulted in five prominent themes from the online survey data: being present, family, support, change and identity. Four prominent themes emerged from the interview data: empowerment, culture, being present and identity. The researchers then examined these themes in the context of the general and art therapy literature. The meanings derived from these findings demonstrate the importance of continued and expanded use of creative arts therapies in pediatric hospitals.

As the greatest considerations in health-care design have traditionally been functional —hygiene, efficiency, and flexibility for changing technology— hospitals have evolved to become dehumanizing spaces. In this thesis two specific groups of chronically ill children who have among the longest inpatient stays are studied: cancer and organ transplant patients. Being under immunosuppressive drugs, these children are physically vulnerable thus are kept completely isolated. These long stays and isolation can be very depressing for them. This thesis undertakes the challenge of designing a fully isolated space that doesn’t feel like one or in other words “a micro-town within a bubble”. The author intends to achieve this goal through strong visual connections, natural lighting, and creative space planning.

Aim: To investigate the reliability of the COntext Assessment for Community Health (COACH) tool on mobile phone versus pen-paper in Nairobi, Kenya. Background: One of the barriers to the progress of the MDGs has been the failure of health systems in many LMICs to effectively implement evidence-based interventions As a result of the “know-do” gap, patients do not benefit from advances in healthcare and are exposed to unnecessary risks. Better mapping of context improves implementation by allowing tailoring of strategies and interpretation of knowledge translation. COACH investigates healthcare contexts for LMICs and has only been used on pen-paper. With 5 billion mobile phone users globally, mobile technologies is being recognized as able to play a formal role in health services. Methods: Comparative study with 140 nurses/midwives and doctors in four hospitals in Nairobi. 70 were randomly assigned to mobile phone and pen-paper each. The tool was administered twice with a two week interval and test-retest reliability, internal consistency and interrater reliability were assessed. Findings: Excellent test-retest reliability for both pen-paper and mobile phone (ICC >0.81). 45% (pen-paper) and 34% (mobile phone) moderate agreement between individual questions in round 1 and 2. Acceptable average Cronbach’s alpha (>0.70). Conclusion: Both mobile phone and pen-paper were reliable and feasible for data collection. The findings are a good first step towards using COACH in Kenya. Additional research is needed for individual settings. Using mobile phones could increase healthcare facilities’ accessibility in implementation research, helping to close the “know-do” gap and reach the SDGs.

Robot assisted therapy is becoming increasingly popular. Research has proven it can be of benefit to persons dealing with a variety of disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and it can also provide a source of emotional support e.g. to persons living in seniors’ residences. The advancement in technology and a decrease in cost of products related to consumer electronics, computing and communication has enabled the development of more advanced social robots at a lower cost. This brings us closer to developing such tools at a price that makes them affordable to lower income individuals and families. Currently, in several cases, intensive treatment for patients with certain disorders (to the level of becoming effective) is practically not possible through the public health system due to resource limitations and a large existing backlog. Pursuing treatment through the private sector is expensive and unattainable for those with a lower income, placing them at a disadvantage. Design and effective integration of technology, such as using social robots in treatment, reduces the cost considerably, potentially making it financially accessible to lower income individuals and families in need. The Objective of the research reported in this manuscript is to design and implement a social robot that meets the low-cost criteria, while also containing the required functions to support children with ASD. The design considered contains knowledge acquired in the past through research involving the use of various types of technology for the treatment of mental and/or emotional disabilities.