Urban Health Services

In 2002 Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Health Association sponsored a study assessing the state of collaboration in Catholic ministries across the United States. The study was conducted by Health Systems Research, Inc., and was funded in part by a grant from SC Ministry Foundation. As part of the study, researchers visited give sites (St. Petersburg/Tampa, FL; Cleveland; Wichita, KS; Orange County, CA; and Albany, NY) to learn what makes for successful collaboration.

This community health needs assessment-the first part of a mixed-methods project-sought to qualitatively examine the impact of the closure of St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center, a large not-for-profit hospital in NYC, on individuals who used its services.

This community health needs assessment-the second part of a mixed-methods project-sought to quantitatively determine the impact of the closure of St. Vincent's Medical Center, a large not-for-profit hospital in NYC on individuals who used its services. Findings from a community survey disseminated to the broader community affected by the closure of this hospital are described. The questions covered topics including demographics, health status, experiences accessing health care pre- and post-hospital closure, access to medical records, prescriptions, etc.

BACKGROUND: As in many fragile and post-conflict countries, South Africa's social contract has formally changed from authoritarianism to democracy, yet access to services, including health care, remains inequitable and contested. We examine access barriers to quality health services and draw on social contract theory to explore ways in which a post-apartheid health care contract is narrated, practiced and negotiated by patients and providers. We consider implications for conceptualizing and promoting more inclusive, equitable health services in a post-conflict setting.

The World Health Organization and the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) in India have advocated public-private mix as essential for tuberculosis (TB) control. We conducted a cross-sectional sample survey of private providers (with various qualifications) in Ujjain District, India, to study willingness and motivation to collaborate. Most providers were aware of the RNTCP and had referred patients there. All were willing to collaborate, although the areas for collaboration varied between urban and rural providers.

Complementary therapy (CT) has become increasingly popular with the general public and interest from the health professions has been rising. There has been no study focusing on the pattern of availability of CT within urban and inner-city general practice. We aimed to describe the prevalence and pattern of access to complementary therapy in this setting, identifying the characteristics of practices offering CT and the perceived barriers to service provision. We sent a postal questionnaire to all 254 general practices on the Birmingham Family Health Services Authority list.

AIM: To conduct a follow-up survey ascertaining changes in usage, referral rate, beliefs and attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) during the last decade. BACKGROUND: In many countries, CAM use is reported to be substantial and increasing. METHODS: A questionnaire was posted to all GPs registered with the Liverpool Primary Care Trust.

The safety and the efficacy of amodiaquine (AQ) alone, AQ plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) (AQ plus SP), and artesunate (ART) plus SP (ART plus SP), three possible alternatives to chloroquine (CQ), were investigated in 379 Rwandan children 6-59 months old with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria who visited one urban/peri-urban health center and two rural health centers. The three treatment regimens were well tolerated and no serious adverse effects were observed.

BACKGROUND: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) have been widely advocated by government and the international community as cost-effective tools for diagnosis and treatment of malaria. ACTs are now the first line treatment drug for malaria in Nigeria and RDTs have been introduced by the government to bridge the existing gaps in proper diagnosis. However, it is not known how readily available these RDTs and ACTs are in public and private health facilities and whether health workers are actually using them.

AIM: To conduct a follow-up survey ascertaining changes in usage, referral rate, beliefs and attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) during the last decade. BACKGROUND: In many countries, CAM use is reported to be substantial and increasing. METHODS: A questionnaire was posted to all GPs registered with the Liverpool Primary Care Trust.