Patients' views on physicians' communication skills in telemedicine: Validation of Communication Assessment Tool among Bangladeshi sample.

Background: Technological advancement has added new dimensions to the communication between physicians and their patients in healthcare settings worldwide. This study aimed to measure patients' views about physicians' interpersonal communication during telemedicine consultations by cultural adaptation and validation of the communication assessment tool (CAT) in Bangladesh.

Methods: A cross-sectional phone survey was conducted among 400 patients who received healthcare services from a telemedicine centre in Bangladesh.

Reorienting health systems towards Primary Health Care in South Asia.

Unlabelled: This series, "Primary health care in South Asia", is an effort to provide region-specific, evidence-based insights for reorienting health systems towards PHC. Led by regional thinkers, this series draws lessons from five countries in South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. This is the last paper in the series that outlines points for future action.

Childhood cancer in Bangladesh: a qualitative evaluation.

Background: Childhood cancer persists as a prominent public health concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with only a 20% survival rate. In Bangladesh, 67% of healthcare expenses are out of pocket. Since 2012, World Child Cancer-UK (WCC-UK) has collaborated with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) to address this issue.

Patient self-referral patterns in a developing country: characteristics, prevalence, and predictors.

Background: Efficient healthcare delivery and access to specialized care rely heavily on a well-established healthcare sector referral system. However, the referral system faces significant challenges in developing nations like Bangladesh. This study aimed to assess self-referral prevalence among patients attending tertiary care hospitals in Bangladesh and identify the associated factors.

Artificial intelligence and digital health in improving primary health care service delivery in LMICs: A systematic review.

Aim: Technology including artificial intelligence (AI) may play a key role to strengthen primary health care services in resource-poor settings. This systematic review aims to explore the evidence on the use of AI and digital health in improving primary health care service delivery.

Methods: Three electronic databases were searched using a comprehensive search strategy without providing any restriction in June 2023.

Professional Relationship Between Physicians and Journalists in Bangladesh: Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: A health care system is intertwined with multiple stakeholders, including government institutions, pharmaceutical companies, patients, hospitals and clinics, health care professionals, health researchers and scientific medical experts, patients and consumer organizations, and media organizations. Physicians and journalists are the key actors who play a significant role in making health care services and health information accessible to the people of a country.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the tensions and alliances between physicians and journalists in Bangladesh, along with identifying strategies that could potentially improve the often contentious relationship and quality of medical journalism.

Aging and the COVID-19 pandemic: The inter-related roles of biology, physical wellbeing, social norms and global health systems.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a devastating and disproportionate impact on the elderly population. As the virus has swept through the world, already vulnerable elderly populations worldwide have faced a far greater burden of deaths and severe disease, crippling isolation, widespread societal stigma, and wide-ranging practical difficulties in maintaining access to basic health care and social services - all of which have had significant detrimental effects on their mental and physical wellbeing. In this paper, we present an overview of aging and COVID-19 from the interrelated perspectives of underlying biological mechanisms, physical manifestations, societal aspects, and health services related to the excess risk observed among the elderly population.

Validation of Responsiveness of Physicians Scale (ROP-Scale) for hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh.

Background: Responsiveness of Physicians (ROP) is defined as the social actions by physicians aimed at meeting the legitimate expectations of healthcare users. Even though patients' expectations regarding ROP have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the psychometrically-validated ROP-Scale is difficult to apply in hospital settings. The goal of this study is to validate the existing ROP-Scale to measure the responsiveness of hospital physicians during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Adopting workload-based staffing norms at public sector health facilities in Bangladesh: evidence from two districts.

Background: Bangladesh's Health system is characterized by severe shortage and unequitable distribution of the formally trained health workforce. In this context, government of Bangladesh uses fixed staffing norms for its health facilities. These norms do not always reflect the actual requirement in reality.

Urban educated group's perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic management in Bangladesh: a qualitative exploration.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 outbreak, Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has taken various measures to restrict virus transmission and inform the people of the situation. However, the success of such measures largely depends on a positive public perception of the government's ability to act decisively and the transparency of its communication. We explored public perceptions of pandemic management efforts by the Bangladeshi health sector decision-makers in this study.

COVID-19 Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among People in Bangladesh: Telephone-Based Cross-sectional Survey.

Background: The world has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, a dire public health crisis, since December 2019. Preventive and control measures have been adopted to reduce the spread of COVID-19. To date, the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 across Bangladesh have been poorly understood.

Disproportionate COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate among healthcare professionals on the eve of nationwide vaccine distribution in Bangladesh.

Background: Acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine by the target groups would play a crucial role in stemming the pandemic. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are the priority group for vaccination due to them having the highest risk of exposure to infection. This survey aimed to assess their acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.

A Policy Analysis Regarding Education, Career, and Governance of the Nurses in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Exploration.

Nurses, short in production and inequitable in the distribution in Bangladesh, require the government's efforts to increase enrolment in nursing education and a smooth career progression. Given the importance of an assessment of the current nursing scenario to inform the decision makers and practitioners to implement the new policies successfully, we analyzed relevant policies on education, career, and governance of nurses in Bangladesh. We used documents review and qualitative methods such as key informant interviews ( = 13) and stakeholder analysis.

A Record Review on the Health Status of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya refugee crisis is neither new nor a sudden problem for Bangladesh. However, the recent violence in August 2017 instigated the migration of 6,93,000 additional Rohingyas into Bangladesh and as of June 2018, around one million Rohingya refugees were residing in Bangladesh. Against this backdrop, it is important to know their current health status because, without this information, equal and equitable health service provision is not possible.

Provider performance and facility readiness for managing infections in young infants in primary care facilities in rural Bangladesh.

Background: Neonatal infections remain a leading cause of newborn deaths globally. In 2015, WHO issued guidelines for managing possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) in young infants (0-59 days) using simplified antibiotic regimens when compliance with hospital referral is not feasible. Bangladesh was one of the first countries to adopt WHO's guidelines for implementation.

Assessment of staffing needs for physicians and nurses at Upazila health complexes in Bangladesh using WHO workload indicators of staffing need (WISN) method.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the current workload and staffing need of physicians and nurses for delivering optimum healthcare services at the Upazila Health Complexes (UpHCs) in Bangladesh.

Design: Mixed-methods, combining qualitative (eg, document reviews, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews, observations) and quantitative methods (time-motion survey).

Setting: Study was conducted in 24 health facilities of Bangladesh.

Implementation research to support Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to implement its national guidelines for management of infections in young infants in two rural districts.

Background: World Health Organization revised the global guidelines for management of possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) in young infants to recommend the use of simplified antibiotic therapy in settings where access to hospital care is not possible. The Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of Bangladesh (GOB) adopted these guidelines, allowing treatment at first-level facilities. During the first year of implementation, the Projahnmo Study Group and USAID/MaMoni Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Project supported the MoHFW to operationalize the new guidelines and conducted an implementation research study in selected districts to assess challenges and identify solutions to facilitate scale-up across the country.

Predictors of Self-Reported Health Status of Ready-made Garment Workers in Bangladesh in Post Global Economic Recession Period.

Introduction There has been disagreement within academia in Bangladesh on whether the global economic recession of 2008-2009 came out as a bane or a boon to their economy and for their people, particularly workers in the ready-made garments (RMG) sector; therefore, we sought to conduct a study among currently employed and recently unemployed RMG workers to examine the influence of recession on their self-reported health status. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 workers across 20 factories and 108 recently unemployed workers from different locations of Dhaka. Workers were selected based on a systematic sampling method from 20 randomly selected factories.

'Feminization' of physician workforce in Bangladesh, underlying factors and implications for health system: Insights from a mixed-methods study.

Background: Bangladesh is currently faced with an emerging scenario of increased number of female physicians in the health workforce which has health system implications. For a health system to attract and retain female physicians, information is needed regarding their motivation to choose medical profession, real-life challenges encountered in home and workplaces, propensity to choose a few particular specialties, and factors leading to drop-out from the system. This exploratory mixed-methods study attempted to fill-in this knowledge gap and help the policy makers in designing a gender-sensitive health system.

Universal Health Coverage in Bangladesh: Activities, Challenges, and Suggestions.

Catastrophic health expenditure forces 5.7 million Bangladeshis into poverty. Inequity is present in most of health indicators across social, economic, and demographic parameters.

Retaining Doctors in Rural Bangladesh: A Policy Analysis.

Background: Retaining doctors in rural areas is a challenge in Bangladesh. In this study, we analyzed three rural retention policies: career development programs, compulsory services, and schools outside major cities - in terms of context, contents, actors, and processes.

Methods: Series of group discussions between policy-makers and researchers prompted the selection of policy areas, which were analyzed using the policy triangle framework.

Iceberg of workplace violence in health sector of Bangladesh.

Objectives: 'Negligence of Physicians' and 'Wrong Treatment' have become commonly-used phrases in print and electronic media of Bangladesh, while violence against healthcare workers has always been under-reported. Unfortunately, there is little evidence regarding physical violence against healthcare workers, while there is no data on the magnitude of psychological violence. The objective of this study was to quantify and explore the magnitude of workplace violence in health sector of Bangladesh to guide future research and adopt preventive policies.

What constitutes responsiveness of physicians: A qualitative study in rural Bangladesh.

Responsiveness entails the social actions by health providers to meet the legitimate expectations of patients. It plays a critical role in ensuring continuity and effectiveness of care within people centered health systems. Given the lack of contextualized research on responsiveness, we qualitatively explored the perceptions of outpatient users and providers regarding what constitute responsiveness in rural Bangladesh.