BACKGROUND In many low-income countries women tend to deliver at home, and delays in receiving appropriate maternal care can be fatal. A contextual understanding of these delays is important if countries are to meet development targets for maternal health. We present qualitative research with women who delivered at home in rural Nepal, to gain a contemporary understanding of the context where w...

This paper investigates individuals' bypassing behavior in the health sector in Chad and the determinants of individuals' facility choice. We introduce a new way for measuring bypassing which uses the patients' own knowledge of alternative health providers available to them, instead of assuming perfect information as previously done. We analyze how objective and perceived health care quality an...

This article explores health disparities and the effects of race and ethnicity on health care quality. It emphasizes the importance of cross-cultural training and two areas that can make a difference in delivering health care services to minorities: 1) establishing national guidelines and standards for culturally competent care; and 2) improving the healthcare educational pipeline and incorpora...

OBJECTIVES Vietnam started its health reform process two decades ago, initiated by economic reform in 1986. Economic reform has rapidly changed the socio-economic environment with the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented economy. Health reform in Vietnam has been associated with the introduction of user fees, the legalization of private medical practices, and the com...

Like Canada, Wales, UK is a bilingual nation: the Welsh language is an important part of its national identity and legislative framework. This has implications for the delivery of public sector services, particularly in the context of health and social care, where responding to the language needs of service users is fundamental to quality health care provision. Nevertheless, despite the strengt...

Commonwealth Fund Pub. #557 Over the past decade, there has been growing evidence of race-based disparities in access to health care services and the quality of care patients receive. Many studies show that even among insured individuals with the same type of health coverage, differences among racial and ethnic groups exist—with minorities generally faring worse. Current health plan efforts to ...

As competition, cost control, and new modes of delivery emerge in health care, there is a need to reexamine both the traditional definitions of health care quality and the methods by which it is measured. Industries other than health care have much to teach regarding the methods for obtaining, analyzing, and displaying data; techniques for problem identification, problem solving, and reassessme...

BACKGROUND Health care access is complex and multi-faceted and, as a basic right, equitable access and services should be available to all user groups. OBJECTIVES The aim of this article is to explore how service delivery impacts on access to healthcare for vulnerable groups in an urban primary health care setting in South Africa. METHODS A descriptive qualitative study design was used. Dat...

BACKGROUND Individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) constitute an increasing share of the patient population in American healthcare settings. Few studies have described the patient's perspective on barriers to medical interpretation and experiences in the clinical setting. METHODS We conducted focus groups with 22 LEP Spanish-speaking adults. Focus groups were transcribed and analyz...

background and objectives: while social network analysis has left a remarkable practical impact in the healthcare field, the potential implication of this methodology in the primary health domain is poorly researched. hence, this study aimed to explore the use and usefulness social network analysis in the context of primary health care. methods: the health volunteers of imam ali health center i...