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What are the most effective strategies for strengthening health systems for disability inclusive development? - Evidence brief

MACTAGGART, Islay
February 2021

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Health system strengthening refers to initiatives that improve one or more functions of health systems, leading to better health. There is a large body of evidence on what works to strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), much of which is aligned to the World Health Organization (WHO) health system building blocks (service delivery; health workforce; information; medical products, vaccines and technologies; financing; and leadership/governance). Despite the fact that some people with disabilities have additional health needs, and many face additional barriers to accessing healthcare, inclusion of people with disabilities is largely missing from this evidence base. Separately, a smaller evidence base exists on increasing the effectiveness of specific health-related services targeting people with disabilities, such as health-related Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), rehabilitation services more broadly, and mental health services. This second evidence base is less closely aligned to the building blocks. Reviewing these outputs in parallel goes some way towards identifying effective strategies for strengthening health systems for disability inclusive development.

Barriers to accessing primary healthcare services for people with disabilities in low and middle-income countries, a Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies

HASHEMI, Goli
WICKENDEN, Mary
BRIGHT, Tess
KUPER, Hannah
2020

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Background: Access to healthcare contributes to the attainment of health and is a fundamental human right. People with disabilities are believed to experience widespread poor access to healthcare services, due to inaccessible environments and discriminatory belief systems and attitudes. Qualitative data on these bar- riers has not previously been systematically reviewed. A meta-synthesis was undertaken of qualitative studies exploring the barriers to primary healthcare services experienced by people with disabilities in low- and mid- dle-income countries.

 

Methods: Six electronic databases were searched for relevant studies from 2000 to 2019. Forty-one eli- gible studies were identified.

 

Results: Findings suggest that the people with disabilities’ choice to seek healthcare services or not, as well as the quality of intervention provided by primary healthcare providers, are influenced by three types of barriers: cultural beliefs or attitudinal barriers, informational barriers, and practical or logis- tical barriers.

 

Conclusion: In order to achieve full health coverage at acceptable quality for people with disabilities, it is necessary not only to consider the different barriers, but also their combined effect on people with dis- abilities and their households. It is only then that more nuanced and effective interventions to improve access to primary healthcare, systematically addressing barriers, can be designed and implemented.

How do we improve access to healthcare for people with disabilities?

HUNT, Xanthe
August 2019

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Gaining access to healthcare is often a challenge for people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Part of this has to do with a general dearth of healthcare services in low-resource settings. But part of this difficulty has to do with structural, attitudinal, economic and social barriers to participation and healthcare which affect people with disabilities more than people without disabilities. This lack of access to healthcare is a problem because, in general, people with disabilities may need to access healthcare more frequently than people without disabilities. Full and equitable access to quality healthcare is a human right, and an important imperative of the global agenda. This evidence brief summarises what we know about how to improve access to healthcare for people with disabilities in low-resource settings.

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