OBJECTIVE To conduct a situation analysis of the status of mental health care in Ghana and to propose options for scaling up the provision of mental health care. METHOD A survey of the existing mental health system in Ghana was conducted using the WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems. Documentary analysis was undertaken of mental health legislation, utilizing the WHO Legislatio...

Chronic widespread pain (CWP) is common in the general population. It is unclear how people reporting this problem present in primary care; they may regularly consult for regional pains without being recognized as having a generalized condition. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of people consulting in primary care for musculoskeletal conditions in different body regions on differ...

There is no well-established mechanism at the local level to discuss or manage the balance of investments in health care and the other social determinants of health. We propose the development of voluntary regional organizations and/or use of current organizations to work with stakeholders of the health system to 1) review local data on health, experience and quality of care, and costs of care ...

Key lessons learnt over the two decades since the implementation of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) platform (1) have highlighted difficulties faced by regional governments and partners in engaging the private sector in the implementation of the platform. Currently, there has been a focus on training of health care providers only, while investment in supervision has been i...

OBJECTIVES To determine the provision of foot health services in rheumatology for the UK and Northern Ireland. METHODS Two hundred and sixteen rheumatology departments were surveyed by postal questionnaire. Questions covered the contribution of various disciplines to rheumatology out-patient clinics, and opinions on existing and potential services, with emphasis on foot health provision. Inte...

BACKGROUND The incidence of severe postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is increasing. Regional variation may be attributed to variation in provision of care, and as such contribute to this increasing incidence. We assessed reasons for regional variation in severe PPH in the Netherlands. METHODS We used the Netherlands Perinatal Registry and the Dutch Maternal Mortality Committee to study severe PPH i...

BACKGROUND Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families experience markedly worse maternal and child health outcomes than non-Aboriginal families. The objective of this study was to investigate the experiences of women attending Aboriginal Family Birthing Program services in South Australia compared with women attending mainstream public antenatal care. METHOD Population-based survey of mot...

From 1997 to 1999, the Chilean Ministry of Health conducted studies on the health care networks in each of the country's 13 regions in order to help plan regional health sector development and define investment projects. Health insurance coverage displayed major geographic, age, and gender variations. Out-patient and in-patient medical care in the public sector showed substantial geographic var...

OBJECTIVE The unmet need for dental care is one of the greatest public health problems facing U.S. children. This issue is particularly concerning for children with special health care needs (CSHCN), who experience higher prevalence of unmet dental care needs. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate regional differences in unmet dental care needs for CSHCN. Using the Social Ecologi...