Wednesday, December 3, 2008

[EQ] The Good Indicators Guide: Understanding how to use and choose indicators

The Good Indicators Guide: Understanding how to use and choose indicators

 

UK NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, 2008


APHO, Association of Public Health Observatories

 

Available online as PDF file [40p.] at: http://www.apho.org.uk/resource/item.aspx?RID=44584

 

“…..This guide is intended to be a short, practical resource for anyone in any health system who is responsible for using indicators to monitor and improve performance, systems or outcomes.

 

Content:

 

1. Introduction

2. Indicators: some useful background

3. The anatomy of an indicator

4. Understanding variation

5. Changing hearts and minds

6. Frequently asked questions

7. Criteria for good indicators and good indicator sets

8. Ten myths about indicators

9. Glossary

10. Further reading

Appendix A: Full anatomy of an indicator

 

 

Target Setting in a Multi-Agency Environment


APHO Technical Briefing 4 -  Association of Public Health Observatories, 2008

http://www.apho.org.uk/resource/view.aspx?RID=54328

 

 

APHO Technical Briefings looks at key issues to consider when setting targets in a multi-agency environment, including the choice of appropriate methodologies, indicators and statistics, and consideration of the wider political and ethical context.

 

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is".Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

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[EQ] Is Private Health Care the Answer to the Health Problems of the World's Poor?

Is Private Health Care the Answer to the Health Problems of the World's Poor?

 

Kara Hanson*, Lucy Gilson, Catherine Goodman, Anne Mills, Richard Smith*, Richard Feachem, Neelam Sekhri Feachem, Tracey Perez Koehlmoos, Heather Kinlaw

 

PLoS Med 5(11): e233 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050233 November 2008

 

Available online at: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0050233

 

 

“….The global burden of disease falls disproportionately upon the world's low-income countries, which are often struggling with weak health systems. Both the public and private sector deliver health care in these countries, but the appropriate role for each of these sectors in health system strengthening remains controversial. This debate examines whether the private sector should step up its involvement in the health systems of low-income countries…”

 

Viewpoint by Kara Hanson, Lucy Gilson, Catherine Goodman, and Anne Mills: There Is No Alternative to Strengthening the Public Role in the Health System

 

Viewpoint by Richard Smith, Richard Feachem, Neelam Sekhri Feachem, Tracey Perez Koehlmoos, and Heather Kinlaw: We Must Engage the Private Sector to Improve Health Care in Low-Income Countries

 

Hanson and Colleagues' Response to Smith and Colleagues' Viewpoint

 

“…..Policy makers and thought leaders in low- and middle-income countries, confronted with continuing failures in the public sector, growing evidence of the effectiveness of the private sector, and energetic non-state organisations, are already working to harness the power of the private sector to achieve better health care for all. Evaluation will be crucial, but the most important research question is not “Can the private sector help?” but “How can public–private partnerships be made most effective and equitable?”

 

As Hanson and colleagues rightly urge, we must innovate and learn by doing. In well-structured public–private partnerships, the private partners are fully accountable for the delivery of specified services and outcomes, and arrangements for financial rewards and penalties require that there is rigorous measurement of process and outcomes. None of this is true in a public system. A poor woman with an obstetric emergency in a rural area of a low-income country is likely to die. Her death and its cause go unrecorded. No inquiry is made about this preventable loss of life. No one is held accountable. No question is asked in parliament. Her death is a silent tragedy. The private sector can help us do better…..”

 

 

 

 *      *     *

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area]

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

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PAHO/WHO Website

Equity List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.