Analysis of the effectiveness of a non-governmental organization in supporting clubfoot clinic at a tertiary care center

BACKGROUND Since December 2011, a non-governmental organization (NGO) has been associated with our clubfoot clinic. Debates related to the effectiveness of NGOs in clinical milieu have raged on for a long time. The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of an NGO in supporting the running of a clubfoot clinic in a tertiary care center. METHODS A descriptive, observational study was conducted from October to December 2014. The three main conceptualizations of effectiveness namely goals, resources and reputation were evaluated for this study, and to analyze them, we compared our treatment data with other published reports, and devised a ten-point questionnaire looking into the working of the NGO. This questionnaire was given to all parents (49) of children with clubfoot attending the clinic and also to an independent observer who was present at the time of patients' interactions with the counselor. The significance of patients' and observers' response was tested by Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test. RESULTS 138 cases with 228 feet were registered in the clubfoot clinic till the end of our study. The average number of visits by the patients was 6.67 and 69.47% of cases required tenotomy during the course of treatment. Of the 49 patients, 33 (67.35%) graded the role of the NGO as excellent, while the rest showed a good response; 28 observers (57.14%) responded as excellent. The average score of parents towards role of the NGO was significantly higher than the observer's score. CONCLUSIONS The NGO associated with our clubfoot clinic successfully supported formal health care professionals.