Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2022 Jul 28;14(1):e1-e9. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v14i1.3651.
Africa is the last region to incorporate family physicians into its health systems. They are still a relatively new concept in many countries, small in numbers and deployed in a variety of ways. There is a need for more evidence on their contribution to African health systems to guide policymakers.
The aim of this study was to review the special collection of short reports on the contribution of family physicians to African health systems, published in the African Primary Health Care and Family Medicine Journal in 2021.
Seventeen short reports from eight countries were qualitatively and thematically analysed in ATLAS.ti. Codes, which were derived inductively, were organised into categories according to the World Health Organization's primary health care monitoring framework.
In the domain of health system determinants, family physicians made little contribution to governance, adjustment to population health needs or financing. They did, however, contribute substantially to the capacity of the health workforce, supply of equipment, functioning of the health information system and use of digital technologies. In the domain of service delivery, they strengthened the model of care and championed systems for improving the quality of care. This translated into improved availability and utilisation of services, core functions of primary care, quality of care and patient safety.
Family physicians described their important contribution to service delivery in district hospitals and primary health care. This should lead to improvements in outcomes and impact for the health system. Their contribution to the concept of resilient facilities and health services needs further exploration.
非洲是最后一个将家庭医生纳入其卫生系统的地区。在许多国家，他们仍然是一个相对较新的概念，人数较少，部署方式也多种多样。需要更多关于他们对非洲卫生系统贡献的证据，以指导政策制定者。
本研究旨在回顾 2021 年在《非洲初级卫生保健和家庭医学杂志》上发表的关于家庭医生对非洲卫生系统贡献的短报告特刊。
使用 ATLAS.ti 对来自 8 个国家的 17 份简短报告进行定性和主题分析。从归纳法中得出的代码根据世界卫生组织初级卫生保健监测框架组织成类别。
在卫生系统决定因素领域，家庭医生对治理、调整人口健康需求或融资几乎没有贡献。然而，他们对卫生劳动力的能力、设备供应、卫生信息系统的运作以及数字技术的使用做出了重大贡献。在服务提供领域，他们加强了护理模式，并倡导改善护理质量的系统。这转化为服务的可用性和利用率的提高、初级保健的核心功能、护理质量和患者安全的提高。
家庭医生描述了他们在区医院和初级卫生保健中对服务提供的重要贡献。这应该会改善卫生系统的结果和影响。他们对弹性设施和卫生服务概念的贡献需要进一步探讨。
