Reports from University for Development Studies Highlight Recent Findings in Health Policy (Mixed Methods Research for Health Policy Development in Africa: The Case of Identifying Very Poor Households for Health Insurance Premium Exemptions in …)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Investigators publish new report on Health Policy. According to news reporting from Tamale, Ghana, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "Despite the utility of applying mixed methods research to understand complex phenomenon, few studies have applied this approach to health policy and in Africa. This article illustrates the application of mixed methods research to inform health policy in Ghana with the intent of complementarity."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from University for Development Studies, "Through an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design involving 24 focus group interviews and 417 household surveys, we developed criteria for identifying very poor households for health insurance premium exemptions in Ghana. The qualitative procedures identified communities' concerns regarding being very poor: food insecurity, lack of seeds to sow, compromised access to education, financial insecurity, and status as unemployed widows with children. The survey findings illustrated the distribution and predictors of poverty in the Kassena-Nankana District. Based on these findings, the authors proposed a four-question survey for the Kassena-Nankana District Health Insurance Scheme to administer to determine extreme poverty."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Based on these recommendations, the local government has a unique opportunity to increase the very poor's access to and utilization of health care services."

For more information on this research see: Mixed Methods Research for Health Policy Development in Africa: The Case of Identifying Very Poor Households for Health Insurance Premium Exemptions in Ghana. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2019;13(1):69-84. Journal of Mixed Methods Research can be contacted at: Sage Publications Inc, 2455 Teller Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA. (Sage Publications - www.sagepub.com/; Journal of Mixed Methods Research - mmr.sagepub.com)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting K.A. Alatinga, Univ Dev Studies, Tamale, Ghana (see also Health Policy).

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689816665056. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)