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Can Sierra Leone maintain the equitable delivery of their Free Health Care Initiative? The case for more contextualised interventions: results of a cross-sectional survey

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Health Services Research, July 2016
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Title
Can Sierra Leone maintain the equitable delivery of their Free Health Care Initiative? The case for more contextualised interventions: results of a cross-sectional survey
Published in
BMC Health Services Research, July 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12913-016-1496-1
Pubmed ID
Authors

Frédérique Vallières, Emma Louise Cassidy, Eilish McAuliffe, Brynne Gilmore, Allieu S. Bangura, Joseph Musa

Abstract

In 2010, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone launched their Free Health Care Initiative (FHCI) for pregnant and lactating mothers and children under-5. Despite an increase in the update of services, the inequitable distribution of health services and health facilities remain important factors underlying the poor performance of health systems to deliver effective services. This study identifies current gaps in service delivery across two rural locations served by the same District Health Management Team (DHMT). We employed a cross-sectional household survey using a two-stage probability sampling method to obtain a sample of the population across two rural locations in Bonthe District: the riverine and the mainland. Overall, a total of 393 households across 121 villages were surveyed in the riverine and 397 households across 130 villages were sampled on the mainland. Maternal health, child health and sanitation indicators in Bonthe District were compared using Pearson Chi-Squared test with Yates' Continuity Correction across the two areas. Women across the two regions self-reported significantly different uptake of family planning services. Children on the mainland had significantly greater rates of health facility based deliveries; being born in the presence of a skilled birth attendant; completed immunisation schedules; and higher rates of being brought to the health centre within 24 h of developing a fever or a suspected acute respiratory infection. Households on the mainland also reported significantly greater use of treated water and unrestricted access to a latrine. If the government of Sierra Leone is going to deliver on their promise to free health care for pregnant women and their children, and do so in a way that reduces inequalities, greater attention must be paid to the existing service delivery gaps within each District. This is particularly relevant to health policy post-Ebola, as it highlights the need for more contextualised service delivery to ensure equitable access for women and children.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 174 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Sierra Leone 1 <1%
Unknown 173 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 48 28%
Researcher 22 13%
Student > Ph. D. Student 13 7%
Student > Postgraduate 10 6%
Student > Bachelor 8 5%
Other 26 15%
Unknown 47 27%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 43 25%
Nursing and Health Professions 27 16%
Social Sciences 20 11%
Psychology 6 3%
Engineering 4 2%
Other 21 12%
Unknown 53 30%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 July 2016.
All research outputs
#20,336,031
of 22,881,154 outputs
Outputs from BMC Health Services Research
#7,115
of 7,651 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#308,685
of 354,668 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Health Services Research
#166
of 185 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,881,154 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,651 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.7. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 185 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.