A quantitative study on factors influencing enrolment of dairy farmers in a community health insurance scheme.

Background: Access to affordable and effective health care is a challenge in low- and middle- income countries. Out-of-pocket expenditure for health care is a major cause of impoverishment. One way to facilitate access and overcome catastrophic expenditure is through a health insurance mechanism, whereby risks are shared and financial inputs pooled by way of contributions.

Assessing the implementation of performance management of health care workers in Uganda.

Background: The performance management concept is relatively new to the Ugandan health sector. Uganda has been implementing health sector reforms for nearly two decades. The reforms included the introduction of the results-oriented management in the public sector and the decentralisation of the management of health care workers from central to local governments.

Factors affecting the performance of professional nurses in Namibia.

Background: Professional nurses play a vital role in the provision of health care globally. The performance of health care workers, including professional nurses, link closely to the productivity and quality of care provision within health care organisations. It was important to identify factors influencing the performance of professional nurses if the quality of health care delivery was to improved.

Compliance amongst asthma patients registered for an asthma disease risk-management programme in South Africa.

The study attempted to identify the factors that influence compliance amongst 1039 members and their dependants of a particular medical aid scheme in South Africa who were registered for an asthma disease risk-management (DRM) programme. The sample consisted of 200 systematically selected individuals or their dependants. A quantitative, exploratory, and descriptive study was undertaken.

A descriptive study on health workforce performance after decentralisation of health services in Uganda.

Background: Uganda, like many developing countries, is committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. However, serious challenges prove to hamper the attainment of these goals, particularly the health related MDGs. A major challenge relates to the human resources for health.

Audits of adolescent prenatal care rendered in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Objective: To evaluate the adequacy of recorded prenatal care provided to adolescents in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Design: A quantitative descriptive design, using checklists to audit 80 prenatal records, based on the assumption that care recorded reflects care rendered.

Setting: Four clinics and two hospitals providing public prenatal and birth services in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Midwives' perceptions about adolescents' utilisation of public prenatal services in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Objectives: to identify midwives' perceptions about adolescents' failure to utilise prenatal services or to initiate such utilisation late during their pregnancies.

Design: a quantitative descriptive and exploratory design, using questionnaires to collect data, to describe midwives' perceptions about factors influencing pregnant adolescents' non-utilisation or late utilisation of prenatal services.

Setting: 20 public health centres (comprising two hospitals and 18 primary health-care clinics) rendering prenatal services, distributed throughout the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Mothers' attitudes towards using services preventing mother-to-child HIV/AIDS transmission in Zimbabwe: an interview survey.

Background: In developing countries vertical (mother-to-child) transmission of HIV/AIDS is responsible for 5-10% of all new HIV infections. HIV positive mothers can transmit HIV to their babies during pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding. Anti-retroviral drugs are effective in reducing the risk of vertical transmission of HIV/AIDS.