Global ETD Search

261	Assessing cost-of-illness in a user's perspective: two bottom-up micro-costing studies towards evidence informed policy-making for tuberculosis control in Sub-saharan Africa Laokri, Samia 04 July 2014 (has links) Health economists, national decision-makers and global health specialists have been interested in calculating the cost of a disease for many years. Only more recently they started to generate more comprehensive frameworks and tools to estimate the full range of healthcare related costs of illness in a user’s perspective in resource-poor settings. There is now an ongoing trend to guide health policy, and identify the most effective ways to achieve universal health coverage. The user fee exemptions health financing schemes, which grounded the tuberculosis control strategy, have been designed to improve access to essential care for ill individuals with a low capacity to pay. After decades of functioning and substantial progress in tuberculosis detection rate and treatment success, this thesis analyses the extent of the coverage (financial and social protection) of two disease control programs in West Africa. Learning from the concept of the medical poverty trap (Whitehead, Dahlgren, et Evans 2001) and available framework related to the economic consequences of illness (McIntyre et al. 2006), a conceptual framework and a data collection tool have been developed to incorporate the direct, indirect and intangible costs and consequences of illness incurred by chronic patients. In several ways, we have sought to provide baseline for comprehensive analysis and standardized methodology to allow comparison across settings, and to contribute to the development of evidence-based knowledge.<p><p>To begin, filling a knowledge gap (Russell 2004), we have performed microeconomic research on the households’ costs-and-consequences-of-tuberculosis in Burkina Faso and Benin. The two case studies have been conducted both in rural and urban resource-poor settings between 2007 and 2009. This thesis provides new empirical findings on the remaining financial, social and ‘healthcare delivery related organizational’ barriers to access diagnosis and treatment services that are delivered free-of-charge to the population. The direct costs associated with illness incurred by the tuberculosis pulmonary smear-positive patients have constituted a severe economic burden for these households living in permanent budget constraints. Most of these people have spent catastrophic health expenditure to cure tuberculosis and, at the same time, have faced income loss caused by the care-seeking. To cope with the substantial direct and indirect costs of tuberculosis, the patients have shipped their families in impoverishing strategies to mobilize funds for health such as depleting savings, being indebted and even selling livestock and property. Damaging asset portfolios of the disease-affected households on the long run, the coping strategies result in a public health threat. In resource-poor settings, the lack of financial protection for health may impose inability to meet basic needs such as the rights to education, housing, food, social capital and access to primary healthcare. Special feature of our work lies in the breakdown of the information gathered. We have been able to demonstrate significant differences in the volume and nature of the amounts spent across the successive stages of the care-seeking pathway. Notably, pre-diagnosis spending has been proved critical both in the rural and urban contexts. Moreover, disaggregated cost data across income quintiles have highlighted inequities in relation to the direct costs and to the risk of incurring catastrophic health expenditure because of tuberculosis. As part of the case studies, the tuberculosis control strategies have failed to protect the most vulnerable care users from delayed diagnosis and treatment, from important spending even during treatment – including significant medical costs, and from hidden costs that might have been exacerbated by poor health systems. To such devastating situations, the tuberculosis patients have had to endure other difficulties; we mean intangible costs such as pain and suffering including stigmatization and social exclusion as a result of being ill or attending tuberculosis care facilities. The analysis of all the social and economic consequences for tuberculosis-affected households over the entire care-seeking pathway has been identified as an essential element of future cost-of-illness evaluations, as well as the need to conduct benefit incidence assessment to measure equity.<p><p>This work has allowed identifying a series of policy weaknesses related to the three dimensions of the universal health coverage for tuberculosis (healthcare services, population and financial protection coverage). The findings have highlighted a gap between the standard costs foreseen by the national programs and the costs in real life. This has suggested that the current strategies lack of patient-centered care, context-oriented approaches and systemic vision resulting in a quality issue in healthcare delivery system (e.g. hidden healthcare related costs). Besides, various adverse effects on households have been raised as potential consequences of illness; such as illness poverty trap, social stigma, possible exclusion from services and participation, and overburdened individuals. These effects have disclosed the lack of social protection at the country level and call for the inclusion of tuberculosis patients in national social schemes. A last policy gap refers to the lack of financial protection and remaining inequities with regards to catastrophic health expenditure still occurring under use fee exemptions strategies. Thereby, one year before 2015 – the deadline set for the Millennium Development Goals – it is a matter of priority for Benin and Burkina Faso and many other countries to tackle adverse effects of the remaining social, economic and health policy and system related barriers to tuberculosis control. These factors have led us to emphasize the need for countries to develop sustainable knowledge. <p><p>National decision-makers urgently need to document the failures and bottlenecks. Drawing on the findings, we have considered different ways to strengthen local capacity and generate bottom-up decision-making. To get there, we have shaped a decision framework intended to produce local evidence on the root causes of the lack of policy responsiveness, synthesize available evidence, develop data-driven policies, and translate them into actions.<p><p>Beyond this, we have demonstrated that controlling tuberculosis was much more complex than providing free services. The socio-economic context in which people affected by this disease live cannot be dissociated from health policy. The implications of microeconomic research on the households’ costs and responses to tuberculosis may have a larger scope than informing implementation and adaptation of national disease-specific strategies. They can be of great interest to support the definition of guiding principles for further research on social protection schemes, and to produce evidence-based targets and indicators for the reduction and the monitoring of economic burden of illness. In this thesis, we have build on prevailing debates in the field and formulated different assumptions and proposals to inform the WHO Global Strategy and Targets for Tuberculosis Prevention, Care and Control After 2015. For us, to reflect poor populations’ needs and experiences, global stakeholders should endorse bottom-up and systemic policy-making approaches towards sustainable people-centered health systems.<p><p>The findings of the thesis and the various global and national challenges that have emerged from case studies are crucial as the problems we have seen for tuberculosis in West Africa are not limited to this illness, and far outweigh the geographical context of developing countries.<p><p><p>Keywords: Catastrophic health expenditure, Coping strategies, Cost-of-illness studies, Direct, indirect and intangible costs, Evidence-based Public health, Financial and Social protection for health, Health Economics, Health Policy and Systems, Informed Decision-making, Knowledge translation, People-centered policy-making, Systemic approach, Universal Health Coverage<p> / Doctorat en Sciences de la santé publique / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished Santé publique Medical economics -- Africa, Sub-Saharan Medical policy -- Africa, Sub-Saharan Economie de la santé -- Afrique noire Politique sanitaire -- Afrique noire Bottom-up and systemic approaches Evidence-based Public health Health economics Cost-of-illness studies Catastrophic health expenditure Coping strategies Direct Users’ perspective indirect and intangible costs People-centered policy-making Knowledge translation Informed decision-making Health Policy and Systems
262	Strategie aktivizace seniorů: z perspektivy Multiple Streams Framework / Seniors activation strategy: from the perspective of Multiple Streams Framework Zoššáková, Bohumila January 2018 (has links) The theme of the diploma thesis is the policy-making process, specifically the process of making of the National Action Plan for Positive Ageing for the Period 2013 - 2017. It's about exploring its creation from the viewpoint of active members of the Government Council for Seniors and Population Ageing, who was discussing it at meetings. The theoretical framework - Multiple Streams Framework deals with the aspect of policy entrepreneurs. Using qualitative, semi-structured interviews and then analysis of qualitative data, it was possible to explore the means, used by policy entrepreneurs to promote their ideas at meetings. This diploma thesis does not only study the creation of an action plan, but also the identification of policy entrepreneurs, through document analysis. After that were analysed primary data from interviews with members of the Government Council for Seniors and Population Ageing, who had been appointed by The Ministry of labour and social affairs. The studied, strategic document is the answer to the demographic ageing phenomenon the population of the Czech Republic.
263	The hydropolitics of Southern Africa: the case of the Zambezi river basin as an area of potential co-operation based on Allan's concept of virtual water. Turton, Anthony Richard 04 1900 (has links) Southern Africa generally has an arid climate and many hydrologists are predicting an increase in water scarcity over time. This research seeks to understand the implications of this in socio-political terms. The study is cross-disciplinary, examining how policy interventions can be used to solve the problem caused by the interaction between hydrology and demography. The conclusion is that water scarcity is not the actual problem, but is perceived as the problem by policy-makers. Instead, water scarcity is the manifestation of the problem, with root causes being a combination of climate change, population growth and misallocation of water within the economy due to a desire for national self-sufficiency in agriculture. The solution lies in the trade of products with a high water content, also known as 'virtual water'. Research on this specific issue is called for by the White Paper on Water Policy for South Africa. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics) SADC Virtual water Policy making Water barrier Water balance Population growth Refugee migration Riparian conflict Resource conflict Aridity Desiccation Climate change Regional integration Regional trade Inter-basin transfer Sectoral water efficiency Enmeshment Catchment management Helsinki rules Functional co-operation 363.610968 Water-supply -- Africa Zambesi River Watershed. Allan, J. A. (John Anthony) Falkenmark, Malin.
264	The hydropolitics of Southern Africa: the case of the Zambezi river basin as an area of potential co-operation based on Allan's concept of virtual water. Turton, Anthony Richard 04 1900 (has links) Southern Africa generally has an arid climate and many hydrologists are predicting an increase in water scarcity over time. This research seeks to understand the implications of this in socio-political terms. The study is cross-disciplinary, examining how policy interventions can be used to solve the problem caused by the interaction between hydrology and demography. The conclusion is that water scarcity is not the actual problem, but is perceived as the problem by policy-makers. Instead, water scarcity is the manifestation of the problem, with root causes being a combination of climate change, population growth and misallocation of water within the economy due to a desire for national self-sufficiency in agriculture. The solution lies in the trade of products with a high water content, also known as 'virtual water'. Research on this specific issue is called for by the White Paper on Water Policy for South Africa. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics) SADC Virtual water Policy making Water barrier Water balance Population growth Refugee migration Riparian conflict Resource conflict Aridity Desiccation Climate change Regional integration Regional trade Inter-basin transfer Sectoral water efficiency Enmeshment Catchment management Helsinki rules Functional co-operation 363.610968 Water-supply -- Africa Zambesi River Watershed. Allan, J. A. (John Anthony) Falkenmark, Malin.
265	Disruptive Transformations in Health Care: Technological Innovation and the Acute Care General Hospital Lucas, D. Pulane 24 April 2013 (has links) Advances in medical technology have altered the need for certain types of surgery to be performed in traditional inpatient hospital settings. Less invasive surgical procedures allow a growing number of medical treatments to take place on an outpatient basis. Hospitals face growing competition from ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The competitive threats posed by ASCs are important, given that inpatient surgery has been the cornerstone of hospital services for over a century. Additional research is needed to understand how surgical volume shifts between and within acute care general hospitals (ACGHs) and ASCs. This study investigates how medical technology within the hospital industry is changing medical services delivery. The main purposes of this study are to (1) test Clayton M. Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation in health care, and (2) examine the effects of disruptive innovation on appendectomy, cholecystectomy, and bariatric surgery (ACBS) utilization. Disruptive innovation theory contends that advanced technology combined with innovative business models—located outside of traditional product markets or delivery systems—will produce simplified, quality products and services at lower costs with broader accessibility. Consequently, new markets will emerge, and conventional industry leaders will experience a loss of market share to “non-traditional” new entrants into the marketplace. The underlying assumption of this work is that ASCs (innovative business models) have adopted laparoscopy (innovative technology) and their unification has initiated disruptive innovation within the hospital industry. The disruptive effects have spawned shifts in surgical volumes from open to laparoscopic procedures, from inpatient to ambulatory settings, and from hospitals to ASCs. The research hypothesizes that: (1) there will be larger increases in the percentage of laparoscopic ACBS performed than open ACBS procedures; (2) ambulatory ACBS will experience larger percent increases than inpatient ACBS procedures; and (3) ASCs will experience larger percent increases than ACGHs. The study tracks the utilization of open, laparoscopic, inpatient and ambulatory ACBS. The research questions that guide the inquiry are: 1. How has ACBS utilization changed over this time? 2. Do ACGHs and ASCs differ in the utilization of ACBS? 3. How do states differ in the utilization of ACBS? 4. Do study findings support disruptive innovation theory in the hospital industry? The quantitative study employs a panel design using hospital discharge data from 2004 and 2009. The unit of analysis is the facility. The sampling frame is comprised of ACGHs and ASCs in Florida and Wisconsin. The study employs exploratory and confirmatory data analysis. This work finds that disruptive innovation theory is an effective model for assessing the hospital industry. The model provides a useful framework for analyzing the interplay between ACGHs and ASCs. While study findings did not support the stated hypotheses, the impact of government interventions into the competitive marketplace supports the claims of disruptive innovation theory. Regulations that intervened in the hospital industry facilitated interactions between ASCs and ACGHs, reducing the number of ASCs performing ACBS and altering the trajectory of ACBS volume by shifting surgeries from ASCs to ACGHs. Disruptive Disruptive Innovation Theory Disruptive Transformations Disruptive Innovation Innovation Technology Technological Innovation Medical Innovation Medical Technology Medical Advancement Laparoscopy Laparoscopic Surgery open surgery appendectomy cholecystectomy bariatric surgery weight loss surgery appendectomies cholecystectomies inpatient outpatient ambulatory ambulatory surgery ambulatory surgery center acute care general hospital hospital acute care hospital general hospital health care healthcare hospital industry health care industry Clayton Christensen Clayton M Christensen Michael Porter Harvard Business School Virginia Commonwealth University CMS Health policy public policy public administration organizational theory organization theory Population Ecology Theory Competitive Strategy policy analysis John Kimberly Organization Size Structural Inertia liability of smallness health spending health care cost specialty medical facility open system niche width dynamic outpatient department technology shift surgical setting surgical setting shift medical facility shift substitution threat health system system level analysis Ecological Approach hospital trends ambulatory surgery trends reimbursement rate Medicare CMS coverage decision P J DiMaggio DiMaggio and Powell w w Powell Hannan and Freeman M T Hannan Organizational change minimally invasive surgery less invasive surgery Prospective Payment System Outpatient Prospective Payment System entreprenuerial physician health care organization health care management Roice Luke Carl Ameringer new technology surgical utilization elective surgery Medicare Payment Advisory Commission MedPAC coverage decision trends in surgery abdominal surgery surgical variation physician-owned physician ownership physician autonomy outpatient clinic utilization trends unnecessary surgery Pfeffer Salancik technology diffusion redefining health care interdisciplinary research health care delivery panel design diffusion of hospital technology state variation regional variation local health care market government intervention medical facility health care capacity focused factory advances in health care physician organization relationship hospital competition medical specialization hospital expansion medical arms race integrated care integrated health system J E Wennberg health care transformation reimbursement scheme surgical volume Florida Wisconsin policy making health policy analysis competitive dynamics center of excellence intervening factor service line competition service-line competition surgical reimbursement innovative business model innovative technology environmental influence established firm new market entrant patient safety sophisticated technology Harvard Divinity School Social and Behavioral Sciences

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