Health system assessment for access to care after injury in low- or middle-income countries: A mixed methods study from Northern Malawi.
John WhitakerIdara EdemElla TogunAbena S AmoahAlbert DubeLindani ChirwaBoston MunthaliGiulia BrunelliThomas P Van BoeckelRory RickardAndrew J M LeatherJustine Ina DaviesPublished in: PLoS medicine (2024)
By integrating 9 different methods, including qualitative, quantitative, community-, patient-, and healthcare worker-derived data sources, we gained a rich insight into the functioning of this health system's ability to provide injury care. This approach allowed more holistic appraisal of this health system's issues by establishing convergence of evidence across the diverse methods used that the barriers of cost, transport, and physical resources were the most important health system barriers driving delays to seeking, reaching, and receiving injury care, respectively. This offers direction and confidence, over and above that derived from single methodology studies, for prioritising barriers to address through health service development and policy.