Assessment of the Influence of Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) On Maternal Health in Jirapa District, Upper West Region of Ghana

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2015-02-10
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Background: The Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) programme is an initiative to improve access to healthcare especially maternal health services in rural communities in Ghana. This is done through providing simple compounds in rural communities and providing key staff such as midwives, community health officers, with participation of community members and the use of local resources to provide healthcare services. With the challenges of staffing and logistics in Community-based Health Planning and Services facilities, this research seeks to investigate how Community-based Health Planning and Services facilities have influence access to quality maternal health care in the Jirapa District. Method: The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in the Jirapa District involving 420 respondents using both probability and non-probability sampling methods. Exit interviews were used for patients and staff responded to both open and close questionnaire while focus group discussion and key informant interviews were held with various community members and facility managers respectively. Results: The study discovered that financial access to maternal healthcare has improved tremendously but spatial factors such as poor roads, transportation to health facilities were still big barriers to maternal healthcare access. Quality of care was generally good but lack of midwives in some Community-based Health Planning and Services compound, sporadic shortage of some family planning devices negatively affected quality of care. Except needs assessment, community participation was very good with community members mobilizing resources for maternal healthcare and taking decisions through the community health committee. Conclusion: In conclusion the Community-based Health Planning and Services has chalked great success in improving access to quality maternal healthcare in the Jirapa District but more midwives and logistics are needed to improve maternal healthcare quality.
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A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Community Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a degree of Master of Science in Population and Reproductive Health
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