Consumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approach

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dc.contributor.authorWeimann, Edda
dc.contributor.authorStuttaford, Maria
dc.date.accessioned2014-11-12T12:47:56Z
dc.date.available2014-11-12T12:47:56Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractBackground: Building an equitable health system is a cornerstone of the World Health Organization (WHO) health system building block framework. Public participation in any such reform process facilitates successful implementation. South Africa has embarked on a major reform in health policy that aims at redressing inequity and enabling all citizens to have equal access to efficient and quality health services. Objective: This research is based on a survey using Mxit as a mobile phone–based social media network. It was intended to encourage comments on the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) and to raise awareness among South Africans about their rights to free and quality health care. Methods: Data were gathered by means of a public e-consultation, and following a qualitative approach, were then examined and grouped in a theme analysis. The WHO building blocks were used as the conceptual framework in analysis and discussion of the identified themes. Results: Major themes are the improvement of service delivery and patient-centered health care, enhanced accessibility of health care providers, and better health service surveillance. Furthermore, health care users demand stronger outcome-based rather than rule-based indicators of the health system’s governance. Intersectoral solidarity and collaboration between private and public health care providers are suggested. Respondents also propose a code of ethical values for health care professionals to address corruption in the health care system. It is noteworthy that measures for dealing with corruption or implementing ethical values are neither described in the WHO building blocks nor in the NHI. Conclusions: The policy makers of the new health system for South Africa should address the lack of trust in the health care system that this study has exposed. Furthermore, the study reveals discrepancies between the everyday lived reality of public health care consumers and the intended health policy reform.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationWeimann, E., & Stuttaford, M. (2014). Consumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approach. <i>JMIR mHealth and uHealth</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9588en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationWeimann, Edda, and Maria Stuttaford "Consumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approach." <i>JMIR mHealth and uHealth</i> (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9588en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationWeimann, E., Stuttaford, M.C.2014. Consumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approach. JMIR mHealth uHealth. 2(4):e49. DOI:10.2196/mhealth.3533.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2291-5222en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Weimann, Edda AU - Stuttaford, Maria AB - Background: Building an equitable health system is a cornerstone of the World Health Organization (WHO) health system building block framework. Public participation in any such reform process facilitates successful implementation. South Africa has embarked on a major reform in health policy that aims at redressing inequity and enabling all citizens to have equal access to efficient and quality health services. Objective: This research is based on a survey using Mxit as a mobile phone–based social media network. It was intended to encourage comments on the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) and to raise awareness among South Africans about their rights to free and quality health care. Methods: Data were gathered by means of a public e-consultation, and following a qualitative approach, were then examined and grouped in a theme analysis. The WHO building blocks were used as the conceptual framework in analysis and discussion of the identified themes. Results: Major themes are the improvement of service delivery and patient-centered health care, enhanced accessibility of health care providers, and better health service surveillance. Furthermore, health care users demand stronger outcome-based rather than rule-based indicators of the health system’s governance. Intersectoral solidarity and collaboration between private and public health care providers are suggested. Respondents also propose a code of ethical values for health care professionals to address corruption in the health care system. It is noteworthy that measures for dealing with corruption or implementing ethical values are neither described in the WHO building blocks nor in the NHI. Conclusions: The policy makers of the new health system for South Africa should address the lack of trust in the health care system that this study has exposed. Furthermore, the study reveals discrepancies between the everyday lived reality of public health care consumers and the intended health policy reform. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - JMIR mHealth and uHealth LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 SM - 2291-5222 T1 - Consumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approach TI - Consumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approach UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9588 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/9588
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationWeimann E, Stuttaford M. Consumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approach. JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9588.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisherJMIR Publicationsen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.sourceJMIR mHealth and uHealthen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.3533
dc.titleConsumers' perspectives on National Health Insurance in South Africa: using a mobile health approachen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordshealth systems reformen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordspublic consultationen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsSouth Africaen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsNational Health Insurance (NHI)en_ZA
uct.subject.keywordshealth systems strengthening (HSS)en_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsWHO building blocksen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordssocial mediaen_ZA
uct.subject.keywordsGINI Indexen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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