Premium
Quality Design: A Planning Methodology for the Integration of Refugee and Local Health Services, West Nile, Uganda
Author(s) -
Burnham Gilbert M.,
Rowley Elizabeth A.,
Ovberedjo Martins O.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/1467-7717.00219
Subject(s) - refugee , quality (philosophy) , service delivery framework , business , sustainability , service (business) , community resilience , resource (disambiguation) , environmental resource management , political science , computer science , marketing , economics , law , biology , ecology , computer network , philosophy , epistemology
In an emergency, the international community responds to the immediate health needs of refugees through the establishment of action‐oriented, life‐saving services. Healthcare delivery is often managed with limited, if any, coordination with local health management structures. In situations where refugees remain in the host country for many years, sustainability issues inevitably arise. Refugee‐hosting governments may ultimately be called upon to assume the management and funding of refugee services. Planning for service integration, while protecting against declines in service quality, is a challenge in the typically resource‐poor host environments. This paper discusses these issues by presenting the experience of the West Nile districts in northern Uganda, and describes quality design as a relevant planning methodology. Quality design is a systematic planning approach that documents and directly incorporates the service users' self‐defined expectations and needs.