Primary care performance in a Ugandan rural district: cross-sectional descriptive study.

Background: To strengthen primary health care (PHC), there is a need to measure its performance.

Aim: To measure primary care performance in one rural Ugandan district.

Design And Study Setting: A cross-sectional survey of Tororo District administered the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) across a sample of 51 facilities.

Next steps for the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Family Physicians (ECSA-CFP).

No abstract available.

Poor neurodevelopment, nutritional and physical growth outcomes among children born to mothers with nodding syndrome.

Introduction: Nodding syndrome (NS), a poorly understood severe neurological disorder develops in children. In Uganda, some NS cases have grown into child-bearing adults. Babies born to mothers with NS may be prone to impaired neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Adapting the primary care assessment tool for sub-saharan Africa.

Background: The World Health Organization's (WHO) measurement framework for primary health care includes the core functions of primary care: first contact access, comprehensiveness, coordination, continuity, and person-centredness. The Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT), originally developed in the United States, was adapted for use by four African countries, and can measure the core functions of primary care.

Aim: To face and content validate a sub-Saharan PCAT that measures the core functions of primary care.

Identifying research gaps and priorities for African family medicine and primary health care.

No abstract available.

Undergraduate teaching in family medicine within the PRIMAFAMED network.

No abstract available.

Social support from family, associated factors and relationship with glycemic control among diabetic patients in Uganda: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: social support from family members in diabetes management is a predictor of optimal glucose control. There is limited evidence of the relationship in Uganda. The objective was to determine association of social support from family and glycemic control, and association of social demographic and clinical characteristics with family support among diabetic patients in eastern Uganda.

Antibiotic prescription among children with common cold at a district hospital in Uganda.

Background: Most childhood infections are of viral origin making antibiotics unnecessary. They are, however, the most frequently prescribed drugs dispensed to children, resulting in inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions, which are one of the main drivers of antibiotic resistance.

Aim: The study aimed to determine the prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions and identify its associated factors among children below 5 years with common cold who attend the outpatient department in Tororo General Hospital.

Prevalence, factors associated and knowledge of probable dementia among adults 50 years and over attending a faith-based geriatric center in Uganda.

Dementia is on the rise due to increasing proportion of old people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although dementia is misattributed to normal ageing or supernatural causes in SSA, it is a brain disease with well-established etiologies. Limited knowledge and understanding of dementia means that many older people are suffering without seeking help and are undiagnosed and untreated.

Education for primary health care in Africa.

No abstract available.

Adaptation and validation of the Ugandan Primary Care Assessment Tool.

Background: Health systems based on primary health care (PHC) have better outcomes at lower cost. Such health systems need regular performance assessment for quality improvement and maintenance. In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), there are no electronic databases for routine monitoring.

The relationship between perceived social support from family and diabetes self-management among patients in Uganda.

Introduction: optimal self-care in diabetes mellitus contributes substantially to good glucose control and delays development of complications. The family´s support is an important predictor of optimal self-care behavior. Little is known about the relationship between social support from family and self-care behavior in Uganda.

How do diverse low-income and middle-income countries implement primary healthcare team integration to support the delivery of comprehensive primary health care? A mixed-methods study protocol from India, Mexico and Uganda.

Introduction: Attainment of universal health coverage is feasible via strengthened primary health systems that are comprehensive, accessible, people-centred, continuous and coordinated. Having an adequately trained, motivated and equipped primary healthcare workforce is central to the provision of comprehensive primary healthcare (CPHC). This study aims to understand PHC team integration, composition and organisation in the delivery of CPHC in India, Mexico and Uganda.

Improving rural health services: The case of a family physician's contribution at Aber Hospital, Northern Uganda.

Family physicians (FPs) provide quality comprehensive primary care services responsive to the needs of the people they are serving. In Uganda, FPs are still few with poor visibility hence difficult to demonstrate their impact. This short report describes the contribution of a FP guided by the principles of family medicine to improving health care services to meet the needs of a rural population in Northern Uganda.

Patients' Involvement in Decision-Making During Healthcare in a Developing Country: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: Patient autonomy and participation have a significant impact on patient satisfaction and compliance with treatment. We aimed to establish and describe the level of shared decision-making (SDM) among the patients in a developing country. Uganda is a low resource country with a 2019 GDP of 35.

Availability, functionality and access of blood pressure machines at the points of care in public primary care facilities in Tororo district, Uganda.

Background: Early diagnosis of hypertension prevents a significant number of complications and premature deaths. In resource-variable settings, diagnosis may be limited by inadequate access to blood pressure (BP) machines. We sought to understand the availability, functionality and access of BP machines at the points of care within primary care facilities in Tororo district, Uganda.

The state of family medicine training programmes within the Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network.

The 2019 Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network (Primafamed) meeting in Kampala, Uganda, included a workshop that aimed to assess the state of postgraduate family medicine training programmes in the Primafamed network. Forty-six people from 14 African and five other countries were present. The evaluation of programmes or countries according to the stages of change model was compared to a previous assessment made 5 years ago.

Coronavirus disease-2019 epidemic response in Uganda: The need to strengthen and engage primary healthcare.

In Uganda, the numbers of new coronavirus disease cases have continued to increase slowly since the first case was confirmed. Given that the disease is likely to be holoendemic, the role of primary care (PC) with its features of comprehensiveness, accessibility, coordination and continuity, functioning at the heart of a primary healthcare (PHC) approach, will be important. The elements of PC are applicable in the epidemic preparation, case finding and management, follow-up and post-epidemic phases of responding to this pandemic.

Roles and challenges of family physicians in Uganda: A qualitative study.

Background: The World Health report (2008), the World Health Assembly (2009) and the Declaration of Astana (2018) acknowledge the significant contribution of family physicians (FPs) in clinical and primary healthcare. Given the lack of resources and low numbers of FPs coupled with the contextual nature of family medicine (FM), the scope of practice of African FPs is likely to differ from that of colleagues in America and Europe. Thus, this study explored the roles of Ugandan FPs and the challenges they face.

Primary health care performance: a scoping review of the current state of measurement in Africa.

Introduction: Countries with strong primary healthcare (PHC) report better health outcomes, fewer hospital admissions and lower expenditure. People-centred care that delivers essential elements of primary care (PC) leads to improved health outcomes and reduced costs and disparities. Such outcomes underscore the need for validated instruments that measure the extent to which essential, evidence-based features of PC are available and applied to users; and to ensure quality care and provider accountability.

Development and validation of the ExPRESS instrument for primary health care providers' evaluation of external supervision.

Background: External supervision of primary health care facilities to monitor and improve services is common in low-income countries. Currently there are no tools to measure the quality of support in external supervision in these countries.

Aim: To develop a provider-reported instrument to assess the support delivered through external supervision in Rwanda and other countries.

Conference report: Undergraduate family medicine and primary care training in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reflections of the PRIMAFAMED network.

Internationally, there is a move towards strengthening primary healthcare systems and encouraging community-based and socially responsible education. The development of doctors with an interest in primary healthcare and family medicine in the African region should begin during undergraduate training. Over the last few years, attention has been given to the development of postgraduate training in family medicine in the African region, but little attention has been given to undergraduate training.

Scaling up Family Medicine in Uganda.

It is evident that politicians, health managers and academics are realising the potential contribution of Family Medicine to health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The challenge is in training institutions to recruit and train enough Family Physicians in order to meet expectations. The 3rd Family Medicine Conference in Uganda, held in October 2013, explored innovative ways of scaling up Family Medicine training and practice in Uganda.

Community involvement in health services at Namayumba and Bobi health centres: a case study.

Background: Community involvement has been employed in the development of both vertical and horizontal health programmes. In Uganda, there is no empirical evidence on whether and how communities are involved in their health services.Aim and Setting: The aim of this study was to establish the existence of community involvement in health services and to identify its support mechanisms in Namayumba and Bobi health centres in Wakiso and Gulu districts, respectively.