Health Information &Monitoring Bill Brieger | 22 Jun 2014 02:20 pm
Regular data Review Meetings in Mozambique, a Path to Improving Malaria Service Delivery
Health Alliance International (HAI) of the University of Washington, is collaborating with Centro de Investigação Operacional da Beira (CIOB) is based in Beira, Mozambique to improve the quality and use of routine monitoring and evaluation data from the health facility through to the district in Sofala Province. The aim is to strengthen the health system through data for decision making and improve quality and uptake of services. This effort is sponsored by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
A key feature of the program is a regular data review meeting where representatives from health facilities in a district come together and each presents his/her standard Ministry of Health service indicators in a simple slide format. After each presentation the speaker received feedback from the group, including members of the district health management team, on successes and challenges and is encouraged to make plans to improve both data quality and service uptake.
The data review meetings started with an overview of all HIV, reproductive, maternal and child health indicators. Separate review meetings for malaria service indicators have been recently introduced.
According to members of the district teams, the individual facility staff presenters have grown more skilled in formatting their data and presenting to an audience. Overall, participants in these meetings appear enthusiastic and interested in the results of their peers. Constructive critiques are the norm, and speakers express appreciation for suggestions on how they can improve their services and the resulting data.
A sample chart from a health facility showing a quarterly review of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) is seen to the right. After viewing this, meeting participants might ask the presenter what are the reasons for the drop-off in coverage. If for example, the problem of late antenatal care (ANC) attendance is mentioned, the group can ask the presenter to consider how to encourage women to attend earlier.
If the presenter then goes back and implements the suggestions, the second chart might reflect the results of improved service uptake. In this way the overall project hopes that close examination of their own data by service providers can strengthen service delivery and the health system.
We look forward to hearing more about this unique process so that it can be disseminated in other malaria endemic countries.
on 23 Jan 2021 at 10:22 am 1.TRESPHOR CHISANGA said …
I am interested in the format of the data review meetings. I would like to put together some kind of SOP for data review meeting.