Improving Metrics and Methods for Assessing Experience of Care among Children and Caregivers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
June 15th, 2023 | news
While there’s been undeniable progress in reducing the death rates of children under five in the last 10 years, preventable under-five mortality is still too high in some low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Lancet’s Global Health Commission on High-Quality Health Systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era found that in these countries, the quality of care can have a bigger effect on mortality than access to care.
One important but often overlooked aspect of care quality is the person’s/patient’s experience of care. Like the principles that underpin person-centered care, it is critical to consider the perspectives of children, their families, and their caretakers when assessing and improving overall service quality. Yet there is a dearth of research on frameworks and types of measures for assessing children and their families’ experiences of receiving health care in LMICs. Moreover, measuring pediatric experience of care involves consideration of complex dimensions, such as resources, culture, socioeconomics, and power dynamics.
In an effort to fill this gap, JSI, through USAID MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator, conducted a scoping review to examine the frameworks and guidance for pediatric experience of care and respectful care, along with the metrics and tools that have been used previously. Building on the World Health Organization’s Standards for improving the quality of care for children and young adolescents in health facilities, the review develops a comprehensive conceptual framework to offer a common language and inform future discussions and research related to children and their families’ experience of care. It also provides recommendations on how we can advance measurement in this area.
With improved measurement, governments, program managers, health care providers, and other stakeholders can assess pediatric experience of care to identify areas to improve, inform planning, and importantly, monitor progress over time, leading to better health outcomes for children.
