Bottlenecks Analysis in the Intervention of Improving Maternal Health in Rural Areas of Tanzania: A Convergent Mixed-Method Approach

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Sejong, Republic of Korea

2 Department of Health Convergence, Graduate School of Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

3 Department of Health Convergence, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Background 
Achieving universal health coverage for maternal health (MH) requires a health system that ensures the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and effective use of services. The study aimed to identify bottlenecks that hinder project outcomes of MH in the rural districts of Tanzania.
 
Methods 
This study employed a convergent mixed-method approach to conduct the bottleneck analysis. Quantitative data were collected to identify indicators of MH utilization, with source including Tanzanian health statistics, health facilities and the women in reproductive age (WRA) survey. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with WRA, their families, community health workers, and healthcare personnel to gain insight into factors influencing healthcare utilization from both a demand and an environmental perspective. Following the Tanahashi steps, the quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The findings from both were integrated to identify bottlenecks toward effective coverage and how bottlenecks affected the utilization of MH services.
 
Results 
Community awareness and acceptance were observed to be high, however only a limited number of individuals had received MH services. Utilization rates for antenatal and postnatal care were 17.4% and 22.0% respectively. This suggests that efforts to enhance awareness may be inadequate to change social norms and lead to health behaviors. Furthermore, even when women utilize the service, they may not do so in a timely or consistent manner due to low service quality or unsatisfactory experiences.
 
Conclusion
To strengthen the logic model, contextual factors such as provider attitudes, service quality, supportive family and community climate need to be considered to ensure that WRAs are satisfied with and continue to access services. With building supply-side infrastructure, ongoing efforts to change stakeholders’ perceptions of MH services and utilization patterns will be needed to improve the coverage of MH services.

Keywords

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 19 January 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 November 2023
  • Revise Date: 06 January 2025
  • Accept Date: 18 January 2025
  • First Publish Date: 19 January 2025

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