A Study of the Impact of Health Care Management and Health Care Delivery on the Health Status of Gabonese

This research paper is aimed to show the impact of the health care management and health care delivery on the health status of the Gabonese.The study, impact assessment of health care management and health care delivery profile will builds up from previous work and is expected to serve as a future building block that advances the conceptualization and practical understanding of how to evaluate the competence of health care management and delivery in Gabon.Throughout Gabon, there is a growing consensus about the nature and importance of health care management and delivery competence a necessary component to accessible, responsive and high quality health care (Gerardi, 2004).Nevertheless, the pursuit of competence in health care management and delivery institutions is somehow constrained partly by the health industries’ deficiency of a systematic procedures and instruments for assessing competence in relation to health care status.The health care management and delivery will be gauged on its presence, quality level as well as its contribution to good health and health care of the entire population of Gabon.The particular aims of the research are to develop an analytic framework for accessing the impact of health care management and health care delivery in the health care delivery organizations, point out specific indicators that can be used in connection to the framework as well as assessing the importance, feasibility and practical implication of the framework and its indicators.The health status indicators in Gabon will mainly be focused on quality of provision of primary health care, general mortality rates for both adults and children and the effects of health care management and delivery on average life expectancy of the people of Gabon (MSH, 1991).Problem of the StatementTo study the impact of health care management and health care delivery in Gabon, the research team will apply various methods to reach these objectives.   The research team will so licit inputs from individuals with wide expertise on issues related to health care management and delivery.These individuals will share information, insights as well as opinions throughout the research period on ongoing basis through meetings and written commentaries.   The research team will also receive inputs from a wide range of key informants in private and public sector who have knowledge on health care management and health care delivery in Gabon.Further, the research will also include inputs from workshops with the public in different zones.   Finally, the research team will make visits to best practice settings in the health care delivery institutions that have been recognized by the public for their creative and innovation in the health care delivery.Visits will be made to both public and private health care facilities.   The sites to be visited should be varied in size, population served, auspices as well as history and scope of health care management and delivery c ompetence activities.   These visits will offer opportunities to get experience-based practical views about the impact of health care management and health care delivery in Gabon.The research intends to use an interactive process in developing the research findings.   Initially, there will be preliminary assessment of guidelines and initial set of indicators’ needs to be developed in literature review.This will be followed closely by refining the preliminary framework, set of indicators and related assumptions.   This will be done by considering the feedback from the key informants, input from the professionals in the health care industry as well as findings from site visits.Finally, the framework and indicators resulting from this refinement will further be revised based on the wide range of inputs from the experts as well as various persons contacted during the site visits.   The final report of the findings of the research will be compiled and presented for analysi s and evaluation.   For this research purposes, the health care management and delivery will be referred to as behaviors, policies and attitudes that combine in a system among professionals and/or agency in agency in facilitating the above to work effectively in improving the health status of the Gabonese. To develop tools to access the impact in the context of health care, the research team is to concentrate on organizational level only.The organizational structure in health management and delivery is an integral part of systematic patient-centred and has the momentum to improve the access to care, quality of care as well as health outcomes (MSH, 1991).The organization normally serves as the driving force in the development and maintenance of individual health care provider competence by providing the managers, policies and systems that support the experiences they encounter.   Moreover organizational culture affects the service delivery and also serves as a mechanism for maint aining quality health care delivery.Historical Perspective of Health Care Management and DeliveryResearch and other studies have indicated that late neo-natal deaths are attributed to perinatally related experiences.   The survival of infants at 24-27 weeks gestation depends on the effectiveness of maternal and/or prenatal care (Weir, et al, 1993).   Although Gabon’s expenditure on health care provision is higher, infant survival rates are low relative to other developing countries.Lower child maternal rates in Gabon can be avoided by improving the policy of health care delivery mainly by focusing on process issues. Recent studies show that prenatal maternal rates in Gabon are approximately 82 per every 1,000 total births and there is gradual increase in rate over time (Weir, et al, 1993).Prenatal deaths are mostly caused by asphyxia, immaturity and macerated stillbirth.   The prevalence of low birth weight babies, multiple pregnancies and admitted patients are some of the major reasons for high mortality rates, particularly in Gabon.To reduce the current high prenatal maternal rates in Gabon, public education on danger signs of prolonged labour and regular training of health professionals as well as improving neo-dental facilities are very important.   Recent studies on global prenatal mortality figures show that between 6 and 7 million prenatal deaths occur for every 132 million births per year (MSH, 1991).It also shows that the dominant causes of those prenatal deaths were mainly caused by poor maternal health, early child bearing and most importantly, lack of appropriate and quality health delivery.   Although technology has provided medical service providers with life-saving practices, almost â…“ of mothers have no access to services during pregnancy and also do not have access to service for childbirth.Infectious diseases such as pneumonia, influenza, malaria as well as tuberculosis are the main causes of mortality in the 20th centu ry in Gabon (Gerardi, 2004).   In the same vein recently measles, cholera as well as intestinal infections are continually and regularly causing mortality in Gabon and many other parts of the world.There has been substantial reduction of prevalence and impact of the above-mentioned diseases due to current improved control of environment, personal hygiene, medical facilities, proper management of human waste as well as dispensation including proper vaccination.Due to the laissez-faires attitude of the populace and government in Gabon maternal health and infant mortality has been a very hot issue.   These problems are considered to occur as a result of ignorance, lack of commitment, corruption, illiteracy and apathy among medical health care delivery institutions.For the health of mothers and their new born in Gabon, racial differences play an integral part towards immunity to medical situations.   West Africans and their descendants normally have resistance from malaria and hoo kworms and to be specific, in the case of malaria, West Africans’ red cells do not have the Duffy antigen (Weir, et al, 1993). This antigen normally acts as a receptor where parasites attain entrance to the same.  Moreover, a relative resistance to more acute types of P. falcipanum such as cerebral malaria is normally displayed by haemoglobin carriers such as Sickle-cell traits and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenate deficiency.   Maternal antibodies protect the child from malaria in utero and initially after birth.   Research and other studies emanating from Gabon shows that malaria is the highest cause of mortality all over the country.On the other hand, measles infections which show symptoms such as rash and fever normally cannot be differentiated from malaria.   A lot of disability to children in Gabon in the recent past can be attributed to measles.   Polio is also a major disease condition in Gabon.   This is due to the many disabilities and deaths it has caus ed.   Survivors of polio always tend to turn out to be beggars, crippled and handicapped as well as devastated by the impact of poliomyelitis.In Gabon, another cause of high death rates is Diptheria.   In mothers and infants tetanus is also a major cause of mortality (Gerardi, 2004).   This is because they are exposed to bacterial infection at childbirth as well as wound injury.   Since this normally caused lock jaw and seizures in patients it results to high death rates.These diseases can be prevented by the introduction of health vaccination in Gabon.   Further, septic abortion, puerperal fever as well as threatened abortion which normally lead to streptococci entering the uterus at childbirth hence causing endomteritis is also a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in Gabon.   Ã‚  In short, HIV/AIDS, malaria, syphilis, gonorrhea, tuberculosis, measles among others are presenting a very challenging issue in general health status of the populace in Gabon.Main concern affecting the Health CareLack of education among women is one of the major factors concerning effective delivery of health care.   This is because it leads to individuals not to sufficiently understand the danger signs of adverse medical conditions as well as not being capable of following the prescription.Further, there has been discrimination in the provision of health care in terms of how wealthy one, is poverty status, race as well as nationality.   Also in the rapid increase in population, the health care costs are also increasing and this raises concern about the quality of health care delivery and financing, that is, in the case of public hospitals in Gabon.Changing facilities, participation of women labour force and increased divorce cases leads to little care to individuals with disabilities by relatives and thus increasing demand for the government design public and social program to take care of the affected (Weir, et al, 1993).   Also, diseases such as HIV /AIDS among other incurable diseases are of major concern to the health care fraternity.The impact of inadequacyPoor governance and in particular in health care management and health care delivery can lead to poor health status among the Gabonese people.   This is because it would lead to corruption where the medical facilities and drugs will be embezzled by some individuals for their own beneficial gains.   Also, inadequate governance can lead to discrimination in the provision of health care in terms of various individual orientation (Gerardi, 2004).These orientations can include economic status, level of literacy, ethnicity among many others.   This can in turn affect the general socio-economical development of the people of Gabon.ConclusionPoor health management and health care delivery impacts negatively on health status of any given populace.   In this modern era in Gabon rapid population increase as well as increased environmental disease conditions exposures the pros pects of population health in Gabon could be an acute national health public issue.   Serious and targeted health care management and health care delivery planning should be put into play to prevent medical situations catastrophe.This can be done well with first of all evaluating the current health status situation in Gabon.   Secondly it can also be done by designing best strategies towards effective prevention and management of the outcomes. It is critical that a concrete and realistic health care management and health care delivery policies should be put in place.   This can result to a remarkable improvement of health status of the Gabonese.ReferenceGerardi, D., (2004).   Using Medication Techniques to Manage Conflicts and Create Healthy Work Environments.   American Association of Critical Care Nurses Clinical Issues. 15.Management Sciences for Health (MSH). (1991). International drug price indicator guide.Weir, M. J., and Ogundiran, A. (1993). A Syndrome based STD su rveillance system for Nigeria. [Abstract]. In: 9th International Conference on AIDS/4th STD World Congress, Volume 1, Berlin, Germany.