Creating Socially Accountable Health Conferences: Guidance from Around the World.

Background: Very little attention has been given to the social accountability of conferences, either in action or in scholarship, in particular, of scientific conferences. Concerns that have been raised include: (1) Local communities and regions suffer from ecological pressure caused by conferences, (2) There is limited value to the local community, (3) International conferences take place at locations irrelevant to the topics discussed; hence there is no connection with locals, and (4) It has been the observation of the authors that <10% of participants may come from the region where the conference is organized, which makes it challenging to make a "positive societal impact" locally. We conducted a natural experiment investigating the interactions between academia, conference organizers, and community leaders.

From disease- to people-centred pandemic management: organized communities, community-oriented primary care and health information systems.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the health equity gap between and within countries. Western countries were the first to receive vaccines and mortality was higher among socially deprived, minority and indigenous populations. Surprisingly, many sub-Saharan countries reported low excess mortalities.

Operationalizing the Chronic Care Model with Goal-Oriented Care.

The Chronic Care Model has guided quality improvement in health care for almost 20 years, using a patient-centered, disease management approach to systems and care teams. To further advance efforts in person-centered care, we propose strengthening the Chronic Care Model with the goal-oriented care approach. Goal-oriented care is person-centered in that it places the focus on what matters most to each person over the course of their life.

Integrated person- and people-centred primary care for diabetes in low- and middle-income countries: The nurses' perspective on patient needs.

Aims: The aim of this study was to identify what nurses working in primary care settings perceive as necessary to support the life needs of people with type 2 diabetes. Articulate these needs with the needs expressed by people with diabetes in a previous study. Finally, illustrate the potential of the used method.

Understanding public procurement within the health sector: a priority in a post-COVID-19 world.

Every year, over 250,000 public authorities in the European Union (EU) spend about 14% of GDP on the purchase of services, works and supplies. Many are in the health sector, a sector in which public authorities are the main buyers in many countries. When these purchases exceed threshold values, EU public procurement rules apply.

COVID-19 fosters social accountability in medical education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted embedded inequities and fragmentation in our health systems. Traditionally, structural issues with health professional education perpetuate these. COVID-19 has highlighted inequities, but may also be a disruptor, allowing positive responses and system redesign.

Belgium's Healthcare System: The Way Forward to Address the Challenges of the 21st Century Comment on "Integration or Fragmentation of Health Care? Examining Policies and Politics in a Belgian Case Study".

In this paper we have tried, starting from the results of an analysis of the functioning of integrated care in the Belgian Health System by Martens et al, to design a strategy that could contribute to better addressing the challenges of the 21st century in Belgium. We proposed health system changes at the macro-, meso- and micro-level. We focused on health policy development and organization of care, emphasizing the importance of a shift from a hospital-centric towards a primary care based approach.

Family Physician Perceptions of Climate Change, Migration, Health, and Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Exploratory Study.

Although family physicians (FPs) are community-oriented primary care generalists and should be the entry point for the population's interaction with the health system, they are underrepresented in research on the climate change, migration, and health(care) nexus (hereafter referred to as the nexus). Similarly, FPs can provide valuable insights into building capacity through integrating health-determining sectors for climate-resilient and migration-inclusive health systems, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Here, we explore FPs' perceptions on the nexus in SSA and on intersectoral capacity building.

Resilience Testing of Health Systems: How Can It Be Done?

The resilience of health systems has received considerable attention as of late, yet little is known about what a resilience test might look like. We develop a resilience test concept and methodology. We describe key components of a toolkit and a 5-phased approach to implementation of resilience testing that can be adapted to individual health systems.

The best person (or machine) for the job: Rethinking task shifting in healthcare.

Globally, health systems are faced with the difficult challenge of how to get the best results with the often limited number of health workers available to them. Exacerbating this challenge is the task of meeting ever-changing needs of service users and managing unprecedented technological advances. The process of matching skills to changing needs and opportunities is termed task shifting.

Are people's health care needs better met when primary care is strong? A synthesis of the results of the QUALICOPC study in 34 countries.

Aim: This article synthesises the results of a large international study on primary care (PC), the QUALICOPC study.

Background: Since the Alma Ata Declaration, strengthening PC has been high on the policy agenda. PC is associated with positive health outcomes, but it is unclear how care processes and structures relate to patient experiences.

Quality of primary health care in China: challenges and recommendations.

China has substantially increased financial investment and introduced favourable policies for strengthening its primary health care system with core responsibilities in preventing and managing chronic diseases such as hypertension and emerging infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, widespread gaps in the quality of primary health care still exist. In this Review, we aim to identify the causes for this poor quality, and provide policy recommendations.

Strengthening vaccination programmes and health systems in the European Union: A framework for action.

Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions. However, the EU is facing increasing outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases, with some fatal cases of measles. This paper reviews the main factors influencing vaccination uptake, and assesses measures expected to improve vaccination coverage.

A scoping review on family medicine in sub-Saharan Africa: practice, positioning and impact in African health care systems.

Background: Family medicine (FM) is a relatively new discipline in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), still struggling to find its place in the African health systems. The aim of this review was to describe the current status of FM in SSA and to map existing evidence of its strengths, weaknesses, effectiveness and impact, and to identify knowledge gaps.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted by systematically searching a wide variety of databases to map the existing evidence.

The influence of general practitioners on access points to health care in a system without gatekeeping: a cross-sectional study in the context of the QUALICOPC project in Austria.

Aim: To assess the rates of specialist visits and visits to hospital emergency departments (ED) among patients in Austria with and without concurrent general practitioner (GP) consultation and among patients with and without chronic disease.

Methods: The cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in the context of the QUALICOPC project in 2012. Fieldworkers recruited 1596 consecutive patients in 184 GP offices across Austria.

Re-thinking performance assessment for primary care: Opinion of the expert panel on effective ways of investing in health.

Background: In 2017, the European Commission (EC) identified as a policy priority the performance assessment of primary care systems, which relates to a country's primary care structure, services delivery and outcomes. The EC requested its Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health (Expert Panel) to provide an opinion on ways for improving performance assessment of primary care.

Objectives: To provide an overview of domains and dimensions to be taken into consideration in assessing primary care and specific indicators to be collected and analysed to improve understanding of primary care performance.

Using concept mapping to identify policy options and interventions towards people-centred health care services: a multi stakeholders perspective.

Background: People-centred health care (PCC) services are identified by the WHO as important building blocks towards universal health coverage. In 2016 the WHO formulated a comprehensive framework on integrated PCC services based on an international expert consultation. Yet, expert opinions may fail to recognize the needs of all health system stakeholders.