Peer support interventions in maternal and child healthcare delivery in sub-Saharan Africa: protocol for a realist review.

Background: Peer support has been proposed as a promising policy intervention for addressing adverse maternal and child healthcare (MCH) outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Existing reviews on peer support largely draw on evidence from high-income countries or focus on single services like breastfeeding, nutrition or postnatal care. In contrast, this review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the empirical literature on peer support interventions across various MCH services in sub-Saharan Africa.

Promoting male participation in maternal healthcare in the Jaman North District in Ghana: Strategies and implementation challenges.

Promoting male participation in maternal healthcare is essential for improved maternal health outcomes. This study explored existing strategies to promote male participation in maternal healthcare and assessed their implementation challenges within healthcare facilities in the Jaman North District in Ghana. A qualitative approach was implemented in April 2020.

From paper to practice: an exploratory study of policy making and implementation in alternative forms of healthcare public-private partnership in Ghana.

There has been growing advocacy for public-private partnership (PPP) in healthcare in both policy and academic circles over the last 3 decades. However, our understanding of the tensions between the policy cycle and critical organisational trade-offs that characterise alternative forms of healthcare PPPs remains limited. In this paper, we use Walt and Gilson's policy analysis triangle to explore the policy and practice of two alternative models of healthcare PPPs-autonomous and integrative partnerships-at the sub-national level in Ghana, a typical case of a polycentric health management structure.

A critical realist synthesis of cross-disciplinary health policy and systems research: defining characteristic features, developing an evaluation framework and identifying challenges.

Background: Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is an inherently cross-disciplinary field of investigation. However, conflicting conceptualisations about inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary research have contributed to confusion about the characteristics of cross-disciplinary approaches in HPSR. This review was conducted to (1) define the characteristic features of context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations in cross-disciplinary HPSR, (2) develop criteria for evaluating cross-disciplinarity and (3) synthesise emerging challenges of the approach.

Exploring factors influencing adverse birth outcomes in a regional hospital setting in Ghana: A configuration theoretical perspective.

Background: Understanding the complexity of factors that influence adverse childbirth outcomes at health facilities can be enhanced by the theoretical articulation of the interplay between external socio-structural and internal technical dynamics of the birthplace in context. Guided by configuration theory, this study explored the factors that influence adverse birth outcomes at a regional hospital setting in Ghana.

Methods: Qualitative data were collected from the Upper West regional hospital in Ghana.

Coping with the Supply-Side Effects of Free Maternal Healthcare Policies in Seven sub-Saharan African Countries: A Systematic Review.

Free maternal healthcare policies (FMHP) result in enormous supply-side effects on care delivery in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This review synthesises the mechanisms adopted by supply-side actors to cope with the effects of FMHP and the results of coping mechanisms on policy objectives in seven SSA countries. We searched bibliographic databases for articles published in English for research that reported supply-side effects of FMHP, coping mechanisms, and effects of various coping mechanisms on attainment of reform objectives.