221.722.81
Quality Assurance Management Methods for Developing Countries
Location
Internet
Term
1st Term
Department
International Health
Credit(s)
4
Academic Year
2023 - 2024
Instruction Method
Asynchronous Online with Some Synchronous Online
Auditors Allowed
No
Available to Undergraduate
No
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Resources
Prerequisite
Introduction to Online Learning.
Have you struggled with Quality issues in programs and services in LMICs? Have you been frustrated with improving quality in programs at the community and facility levels? Do you have difficulties in translating the lofty goals and methods for quality improvement in high income countries to the types of programs running in LMICs? Then this course is designed for you. We will take proven methods and work on how to apply them in community health and health facilities (clinics and hospitals) in LMICs, focused on effectively using accessible resources. Please join us as we work together on these issues.
Presents the principles and practice of total quality management methods for health systems in developing countries. Emphasizes integrated district-level health systems management; fostering a genuine team approach in the face of an authoritarian tradition; central importance of community governance; interventions performed according to standards and in an equitable fashion; introducing a measurement-based approach to problem solving, emphasizing analysis of service delivery process and outcome; and developing operational research as an integral component of the management system.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Describe the principles, concepts and methods for developing quality initiatives and explain how these can be used to improve essential public health and clinical services services
- List ways to understand patient or user perceptions of quality and to address deficits in services as perceived by patients,
- Define quality from the perspective of all stakeholders, particularly in diverse socioeconomic contexts and populations, particularly where socieconomic equity is a challenge for population segments
- Explain how quality assurance principles can identify health access barriers and how findings can be utilized to build equity in access and improve population health
- Discuss how quality assurance re-design tools can lead to behavioral changes in populations as a result of improved health programming
- Measure a performance gap and conduct a gap analysis to determine root causes
- Apply team-based problem-solving methods to address poor performance of public health services
- Assess the costs of poor quality and of quality improvement
- Develop performance monitoring systems and indicators to manage healthcare performance
Methods of Assessment
This course is evaluated as follows:
- 40% Assignments
- 50% Project(s)
- 10% Participation