Nas últimas décadas inúmeras experiências alternativas na área de organização de serviços de saúde tem se desenvolvido no Brasil e países Latino Americanos. O autor considerando as atuais modificações do Sistema de Saúde no Brasil, a partir da criação do Sistema Único de Saúde, estuda a experiência realizada no município de Cotia, existente há mais de 20 anos, tendo como objetivo central analisar seu processo de implementação e os resultados obtidos, dentro da ótica de um Sistema Local de Saúde. O estudo de caso é desenvolvido em dois eixos básicos, um de contextualização da experiência, reconstituindo as diferentes políticas nas esferas federal, estadual e municipal e ainda suas bases conceituais, e outro a partir da experiência em si, recuperando os processos através dos aspectos institucionais, organizacionais, padrões de financiamento e modelo assistencial, avaliando ainda seus resultados e impactos na saúde da comunidade. As conclusões a partir do estudo de caso ressaltam alguns aspectos centrais. Em relação ao desenvolvimento institucional a particularidade da experiência de Cotia, é ter como instituição hegemônica uma entidade privada de caráter filantrópico, a Associação Hospital de Cotia. Essa Associação, desenvolve uma estrutura de participação local, mas predominantemente é orientada a partir de lideranças técnicas fora do município e ligada à Universidade (Faculdade de Saúde Pública). Sua organização contempla como base doutrinária a integração das ações preventivas e curativas e a conformação de uma direção única para o sistema, hospital e rede básica de saúde. Outro aspecto refere-se a formação de recursos humanos incorporada e desenvolvida desde o inicio da experiência. Em relação aos aspectos financeiros do sistema, durante todo período de sua existência a receita operacional tem forte dependência aos orgãos públicos, gerando deficits operacionais cobertos por doações e convênios com instituições internacionais. Em relação ao investimento, essa mesma dependência é observada. Os custos unitários de procedimentos obtidos pelo sistema podem ser considerados baixos, tendo em vista os aspectos qualitativos da prestação de serviço pelo mesmo. Quanto ao modelo assistencial, a experiência de Cotia obedeceu a critérios de racionalização de recursos adotando uma regionalização local, uma hierarquização da rede de serviços e uma articulação intra e intersetorial, desenvolvendo programas, respeitando a integralidade das ações de saúde, criando um sistema de referência e contra-referência efetivo tendo como base na sua priorização a realidade epidemiológico social da comunidade. O componente da participação comunitária do modelo, gerou experiências completas de gerência conjunta de unidades sanitárias e um grau de participação foi considerado satisfatório dada a realidade socio cultural do município. Quanto a área de recursos humanos a experiência desenvolve linhas de formação de recursos humanos de amplo espetro desde o nivel elementar até o nivel universitário, criando um sistema de formação de médicos gerais comunitários adaptados a realidade local. Quanto a dinâmica dos serviços e seus resultados, o sistema atingiu altos graus de cobertura nas populações de maior risco; interferindo de maneira efetiva na melhoria de alguns indicadores de saúde do município principalmente na área Materno-Infantil e de controle das doenças transmissíveis. O autor também vê no atual quradro de organização do Sistema Único, a partir da experiência estudada, a possibilidade de extensão do modelo tendo como base na área hospitalar as Santas Casas. Ainda recomenda o reestudo das formas de financiamento, para o desenvolvimento dos Sistemas Locais, e a criação de uma unidade de gerência neste nivel de intervenção sobre a realidade local. / Some alternative experiences concerning the organization of health services have been developed in Brazil and in other latin americam countries, these late decades. Regarding aspects of the Brazilian Health System imposed through our Constitution, the author studies the experience developed in the Cotia county since twenty years, always having as its main objeetive, the analysis of its implementation process and the achievement obtained within the concept of a Local Health System. The case study is developed focusing two basic points: one, referring the experience already attained by the federal, state and municipal health services, as far as its institutional organization; its financial and health model and final results attained, always dealing with the community health as a whole. The conclusions after the case study point out to some important aspects: dealing with the institutional development of the Cotia Project, it is emphasized a philantropic entity, the Cotia Hospital Association, which has a strong local participation as far its structure is concerned, but also, it is predominantly technical oriented from outside sources of the county, as the school of Public Health of the University of São Paulo. Its organization is based on the philosophy dealing with the integration of preventive and curative health activities, directed towards our existing health system, as far as hospital and health centers services are concerned. Another aspect deals with the development of new human recources, a subject which started at the beginning of the experience. Related to the financial aspects of the project, its operational funds since the starting of its activities, it depends on governmental funds and donations from philantropy as well as from agreements between the \"Associação\" and international institutions. The same situation goes on as far as money investment is concerned. Costs out of services offered are not too high, since its quality is always considered excellent. As far as the model of the Cotia experience, it was always directed towards the rationalization of its owm recources, the local regionalization and hierarchilization of health services, its intra and intersectorial articulation, always developing programs concerning the integration of acceptable health actions. This philosophy creates a two-way referencial system based on priorities and the social epidemiological reality of the community, given place to new experiences dealing with the community participation on he administration of the project. This is a very satisfactory achievement, considering the socio cultural reality of the Cotia county. Also, as far as the preparation of new human resources, the project has been. developing courses from the elementary up to the university levels of education, so creating an educational system for the training of the general practitioner, adapted to our local reality. As far as the dynamics of the services and final results, the project has been covering the population standing for high health risk, a fact that effectively attains the betterment of some of the indewes of the Cotia county, mainly concerning to maternal and infant care areas and also to the control of infectioms diseases.

Research Problem: The South African health system faces numerous challenges associated with its status as a middle-income developing nation. Wasteful expenditure and poor clinical outcomes arise from inefficient inter-organizational communication of patient information and the lack of a centralized health database. Research question: How does the experience of chronic disease patients with their health information inform the development of future health records in low income population groups? Proposition: Exploration of patient and health care workers experiences of medical records can inform their future development to enhance continuity of care. Objectives, methodology, procedures and outcome: Identification of an appropriate format, technological basis and functional design of a prototype medical record system by means of a phenomenological study conducted through in-depth interviews of patients and doctors in order to improve clinical care. Left and right hermeneutics were used to analyse the data and develop themes. Findings: Health records play a critical role in the clinics workflow processes, document the patients' management and clinical progress. They are an important intermediary in the relationship between the patient and the facility. Inefficiencies in the paper-based system lead to ineffective consultations, loss of continuity of care and discord between practitioners and patients. Improvement of the records format is required to provide ubiquitous access to health and improve patient health literacy.

In strengthening health systems, the World Health Report 2000 indicates that health system improvement strategies must also cover private (for-profit and non-profit) health care provision and financing if progress towards Universal Health Coverage is to be achieved. Yet very little is known about the financing of non-profit providers in Africa - especially not faith-based health providers, who have often historically remained elusive in terms of financial transparency. This thesis reports on a multiple case study conducted with two non-profit faith-based health providers in Kenya, namely the Africa Inland Church Kijabe Hospital; and Nyumbani-Children of God Relief Institute in Nairobi (Nyumbani) - and situates these within the broader context of health systems financing and public-private partnership in Kenya. Data was collected from multiples sources including: secondary literature; secondary analysis of existing data (such as the Kenya Health Information System); financial data on projects and annual reports; routine facility and service data; previous research on both organizations; archival data; and supplemented by 6 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders. The study reveals a highly complex funding environment for non-profit (and faith-based) health providers in Kenya, which is a result of historic health system configurations, and current funding policy and focus (such as the influx of HIV-related funding). The HIV program in AIC Kijabe Hospital is solely funded by USAID; while Nyumbani is also funded by USAID (70%), but has other private sources. In both cases, funding from various sources is structured differently with varied financial flows and requirements. Faith-based health providers in Kenya are highly dependent on complex donor-funding arrangements, and lack financial resilience as a result. Donors need to better understand the nuance of engagement with such providers.

Context: Partnerships are emerging as critically important vehicles for addressing health in local communities. Coalitions involving local health departments can be viewed as the embodiment of a local public health system. Although it is known that these networks are heavily involved in assessment and community planning activities, limited studies have evaluated whether health coalitions are functioning at an optimal capacity. Objective: This study assesses the extent to which health coalitions met or exceeded expectations for building functional capacity within their respective networks. Design: An evaluative framework was developed focusing on 8 functional characteristics of coalitions previously identified by Erwin and Mills. Twenty-nine indicators were identified that served as "proxy" measures of functional capacity within health coalitions. Setting and Participants: Ninety-three County Health Councils (CoHCs) in Tennessee. Main Outcome Measure(s): Diverse member representation; formal rules, roles, and procedures; open, frequent interpersonal communication; task-focused climate; council leadership; resources; active member participation; and external linkages were assessed to determine the level of functionality of CoHCs. Scores across all CoHCs were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and measures of variability. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.3. Results: Of 68 CoHCs (73% response rate), the total mean score for the level of functional characteristics was 30.5 (median= 30.5; SD = 6.3; range, 18-44). Of the 8 functional characteristics, CoHCs met or exceeded all indicators associated with council leadership, tasked-focused climate, and external linkages. Lowest scores were for having a written communications plan, written priorities or goals, and opportunities for training. Conclusion: This study advances the research on health coalitions by establishing a process for quantifying the functionality of health coalitions. Future studies will be conducted to examine the association between health coalition functional capacity, local health departments' community health assessment and planning efforts, and changes in community health status.

Includes bibliographical references / The purpose of this study was to understand the life-world of transsexual women in relation to their awareness of their unique health needs as a direct result of sexual realignment treatment, and their health-seeking behaviours, practices and experiences of responses in negotiating health care for their transgender-related health needs in the healthcare system. The overarching question asked in this research was: What are the lived experiences, and meaning of these experiences, for transsexual women during the sexual-realignment process when negotiating health care for their transgender-related healthcare needs in the healthcare system? Participants in this study were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten participants selected from urban, peri-urban, and rural areas of the Western Cape. Theoretical saturation was reached with the tenth participant, and further selection of participants was ceased. The data was viewed through a trans-inclusive feminist lens with a concurrent collection and analysis process as guided by the steps of analysis of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), as developed by Smith (2010). IPA is a modern qualitative approach to research inquiry which harnesses the strengths of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and ideography. The analysed data were illustrated in a master theme graphic which contained one superordinate theme, two subordinate themes and various categories. The superordinate theme of this study was named "Towards organic Womanhood", while the two subordinate themes were coined "Embracing Womanhood", and "Facing the Giant in order to Become". The subordinate theme Embracing Womanhood gives insight into aspects of transsexual women's journey of moving towards a state of organic womanhood, whereas the subordinate theme Facing the Giant in order to Become maps out powers in the healthcare system which prevent transsexual women from having a smooth transition journey. This study illustrates that transsexual women have a need to align their bodies with their gender identities, but even though South Africa has legislation which protects the health and rights of transsexual women, transsexual women find it challenging to make the transition. Health practitioners are ill-equipped to manage transsexual women, the care which they receive in the government-funded healthcare system is of a poor standard, and they are4subjected to extremely long waiting periods to have access to surgical sexual realignment services. Recommendations are made for the healthcare system, policy makers and educational institutions in order to stimulate the South African healthcare system to become inclusive and affirming to the needs of transsexual women. Furthermore, recommendations for researchers are made to stimulate the debate around transsexual health care in the scientific literature.

Auditing in health care has been recommended by many national organisations to improve patient safety and quality of care, despite inconclusive evidence to support its effectiveness. In South Africa, the National Core Standards for health establishments in South Africa (NCS) was published in 2011. The NCS recognises that staff are vital to ensuring that the health system delivers quality health care and therefore require protection against the risk of injury, infection and other occupational hazards, consistent with the South African Occupational Health and Safety act of 1993. The aim of this study was to determine: (a) the compliance of public sector primary healthcare (PHC) facilities with the NCS for occupational health and safety (OHS) and infection prevention and control (IPC), (b) the impact of the audits three years after baseline audits, at follow up self-assessment audits and (c) the reliability of self-assessment audits when compared to external audit results. This dissertation is divided in three parts. Part A is the study protocol which received ethics approval in March 2015. Part B is a structured literature review covering standards for health care, the impact and effectiveness of accreditation/certification/auditing in health care, interrater reliability and factors associated with OHS/IPC compliance. Previous studies have failed to address whether evaluating occupational health and safety or infection prevention and control standards using accreditation/certification in a primary healthcare, low and middle income setting is effective or reliable. Part C is the journal ready manuscript presenting the results of the study in the form of a manuscript for an article for a named peer reviewed journal. This was a cross-sectional study of NCS OHS/IPC audit data, with a longitudinal component, of a sample of public sector PHC facilities in the Western Cape province of South Africa between 2011 and 2015. Baseline PHC facility compliance with OHS/IPC measures was low. There was no significant improvement in compliance after three years. Poor inter-rater reliability indicates a large degree of measurement error. Practical implications of these results are the need to improve reliability of assessments and a process to convert low compliance scores into implemented improvement actions.

In Southern Africa, as elsewhere, public-private engagement (PPE) for the provision and financing of healthcare is considered a pervasive and valuable mechanism for meeting the health needs of the population. A wide range of mechanisms for engagement are available, each with organisational models that make them suited to overcoming particular barriers in particular health system contexts. The extent to which a PPE initiative produces the desired outcome is largely dependent on the organisational structure of the collaboration. This study uses scoping and systematic review methods to develop a typology of PPE models visible in Southern Africa and investigate the organisational variations between them. While a variety of PPE models are utilised in the current Southern African context, donor-dependency remains high and there is room to expand engagement of this sort by adopting more innovative mechanisms for engagement and organisational models. An account of the models of PPE being initiated in the Southern African context constitutes a first step toward an analysis of the effectiveness of various mechanisms, and points the way to areas of possible expansion of efforts to engage with the non-state health sector to more effectively align goals in the interest of public health. To some extent, possible models are determined by country context and state capacity. Nonetheless private resources for health, including capital, human resources and technical capacity of for-profit and not-for-profit non-state health sector organisations, represent a rich source of health systems resources that could be more fully utilised through more innovative PPE initiatives for delivery and financing of health care.

The conflict in Northeastern Nigeria has left the region with an increasing death toll of 20,000 and has caused mass displacement of over 2.3 million(1)(2). The impacts of conflict are far reaching and has adverse consequences on the mental health of affected populations(3). Nigeria’s mental health system does not have the structure or resources to accommodate its mental health burden. Translating the emergency response in Northeastern Nigeria into sustained improved mental health care may be useful toward implementation of Nigeria’s mental health policy and nationwide mental health reform. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the emergency response in Northeastern Nigeria may be leveraged to contribute toward an improved mental health system. A literature review was conducted in order to review case studies of regions which have strengthened their mental health systems after and during an emergency. Additionally, best practices for mental health systems strengthening were reviewed. Findings show that a strengthened mental health system may be achieved by the government making an early commitment to seizing the emergency response as an opportunity to reach this goal. The emergency response could adopt key strategies such as developing a local workforce and using established tools to guide service provision. Additionally, the investment of key stakeholders and a commitment toward decentralization and scaling up community-based services is recommended. Such an approach may be beneficial toward improved mental health care in Northeastern Nigeria and may be useful to Nigeria as a whole.

Strong health systems are needed to implement clinical and public health interventions. Global evidence-informed health systems guidance, such as that created by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been used to help strengthen health systems. However, global guidance needs to be contextualized or adapted to fit the realities of a particular setting. A workbook for contextualizing health systems guidance was developed to accompany WHO guidance on optimizing health worker roles to increase access to and use of key interventions for improving maternal and newborn health. This dissertation investigates the development and use of the workbook, using qualitative research methods, to help in the planning of future knowledge translation tools, to provide insights for practice and research, and to improve the workbook. First, a single case study explores the development of the workbook, which helped uncover the key features of the process, barriers that arose, and facilitators that helped overcome some of these barriers (chapter 2). Second, a single embedded case study examined the use of the workbook in two real-life settings, Peru and Uganda (chapter 3). Third, a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature was used to better define contextualization and to find what and how contextual factors could be used by policymakers to adapt guidance to their setting (chapter 4). Together, the three studies presented in this dissertation offer substantive, methodological and disciplinary contributions to the field of health systems and policy through a comprehensive examination of the workbook. It presents recommendations for improving the workbook from the perspectives of global guidance developers, users at the national level, and the broader literature on guidance and guideline development, contextualization and implementation. It also supports the continued use of workbooks, or other tools, to contextualize guidance in an effort to strengthen health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Strong health systems are needed in order for the right mix of clinical care and public health interventions to get to those who need them. The World Health Organization writes guidance at the global level to help countries strengthen their health systems. This guidance can be used to develop health guidance or policy for the national or subnational (e.g., provincial, state) level, but it first needs to be contextualized or adapted to that particular jurisdiction. It is important to consider what the problem is and what causes it, policy options to help deal with the problem, implementation considerations, as well as factors related to both the health system and the political system that can affect whether or not the intervention will be implemented. A workbook was developed to help contextualize guidance. This dissertation explores the process of developing and evaluating its use to help in the planning of future tools, to provide insights for practice and research, and to improve the workbook.

Background: With recent emphasis on creating a stronger, more patient-centred, health system in Ontario, there remains no clear definition of a “public health” system, hindering the ability to integrate preventive public health and health care practices. This study aims to describe public health systems and initiate a research agenda for this field. Methods: A critical interpretive synthesis of the literature was conducted using six electronic databases. In addition, data extraction, coding and analysis followed a best-fit framework analysis method. Initial codes were based on two current leading health systems and policy classification schemes: health systems arrangements (based on governance, financial and delivery arrangements) and the 3I+E framework for health policy formulation (institutions, interests, ideas and external factors). New codes were developed as guided by the data. A constant comparative method was used to develop concepts and to further link these into themes. Additional documents were identified to fill conceptual gaps. Results: 5,933 unique documents were identified and 338 documents met the inclusion criteria. 81 documents were purposively sampled for full-text review and 58 of these were included in this study. Nine documents were found to help fill conceptual gaps. Generally, public health systems can be defined using traditional healthcare systems and policy frameworks. There was also a strong emphasis on identifying and standardizing the roles and functions of public health. Partnerships (community and multi-sectoral) are common features within and between components of public health systems. A public health system framework and a model of a population health system were conceptualized. Discussion: Understanding public health systems can help strengthen these systems and further integrate preventive public health and primary care services. Systems are influenced by organizational and contextual factors that need to be explored to improve population health. A research agenda is proposed to move this field forward. / Thesis / Master of Public Health (MPH)