Assessment of healthcare knowledge
Overview
Health workers and lay healthcare providers often lack basic, essential healthcare knowledge.
Pneumonia, for example, is the leading cause of death in children under 5, killing more than 2 million children every year. Yet only one in five caregivers in developing countries can identify the early signs of pneumonia, and only about half of children under 5 with pneumonia are taken to an appropriate health-care provider.
What HIFA2015 members say
The following are summaries of email discussions on the HIFA2015 and CHILD2015 email forums. All documents are in PDF format, 100-200kb.
Knowledge and skills among those responsible for the health care of children
Knowledge and skills to manage the dying patient
Knowledge and skills to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Knowledge and skills to recognise and treat childhood pneumonia
Quotes from the literature
“The authors conclude that the competence of doctors in low-income countries is insufficient, quality of patient care is even worse than suggested by the level of doctor’s competence and the poor have access to worse quality care than the rich, in both the public and the private sector.”
Human Development and Public Services Team, World Bank Development Research Group, 2008
“Adverse factors in case management, including inadequate assessment, inappropriate treatment, and inadequate monitoring occurred in 76% of inpatient children. Most doctors in district hospitals, and nurses and medical assistants in teaching and district hospitals, had inadequate knowledge and reported practice for managing important childhood illnesses.”
Nolan T et al 2001 [Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda]
“We found that a majority of patients (90.0%) had poor knowledge about the disease [diabetes]… and 96.3% had poor awareness of how to control the disease”
Kamel NM et al 1999 [Egypt]
References
Kamel NM et al 1999. Sociodemographic determinants of management behaviour of diabetic patients. Part II. Diabetics’ knowledge of the disease and their management behaviour. East Mediterr Health J. 1999 Sep;5(5):974-83.
