Current access to health information in Zambia: a survey of selected health institutions

Abstract

Objective : To assess the current situation of access to information by health staff at selected central, provincial, district hospitals and health centres in Zambia. Methods : Government and non-governmental institutions were visited in the Lusaka Urban District and nine rural districts in the North-Western, Western and Central Provinces of Zambia in 2001. Thirty interviews were held with provincial and district health directors, medical doctors, nurses and clinical officers in district hospitals and rural and urban health centres. In 2006, a follow-up visit was undertaken to the health centres in the Lusaka Urban District in Lusaka Province and the Sesheke District in the Western Province. Results : There is limited access to health information for health workers in Zambia. In hospitals and health centres, where there is access, it is usually provided in an ad hoc manner without a central policy from the government. In all the places visited, there was also an overwhelming expressed need for different types of information relating to the professional or personal needs of health care workers. Conclusions : The study found that access to information was very poor. There were some excellent examples of local initiatives showing that, even under difficult financial and infrastructural circumstances, it was feasible to improve health workers' access to information by using low technology, information access initiatives. These existing local initiatives deserve to be scaled up, while new initiatives should be adopted to improve access to information in a much more structured way. Of paramount importance is the formulation and implementation of an information policy that will guarantee the provision of health information to Zambian health workers.

Strategies for Information Access and Provision for Health Workers at the District Level in Zambia

“…These information needs include, among others, information needed for the delivery of health care, such as information on the management and treatment of malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and AIDS. Other needs consist of information on training and professional development (28). Therefore, in order to design health information strategies that are effective, it requires taking cognizance of these differences because they will affect the type of information required, levels of information materials needed, the formats in which the information is packaged, and the channels the information will be disseminated in.…”

Teaching materials for indwelling urinary catheter management: a case study of one library in Tanzania

“…‘Physicians and nurses need access to the best evidence in everyday practice to assist in clinical decision‐making’ (Clarke et al ., , p. 178). In the African setting this is a major challenge (Hoppenbrouwer and Kanyengo, ). The Tanzanian health care situation differs from that found in the UK in such areas as standards of care, professional health care worker/patient ratios and availability of resources such as basic hand washing facilities, supplies and sterile equipment (Green, ; Moland, ; Leshabari et al ., ; Ndomba et al ., ; Mboera, ; Prytherch et al ., ).…”

The development of telehealth as a strategy to improve health care services in Zambia

“…Recent research by Hoppenbrouwer and Kanyengo 8 has shown that apart from some local initiatives to improve access to information through print, most hospitals and health centres have poor or very poor information resources. Nevertheless, the need for information relating to both the professional and personal needs of health care workers at different levels was vigorously expressed by those interviewed.…”