Engaging consumers in safety and quality in developing countries

The World Health Organization World Alliance for Patient Safety recently commissioned the Joanna Briggs Institute to undertake a research project to address patient safety in developing countries and countries with economic transition.

Due to the nature of the health workforce and limited resources in developing countries these regions experience a significantly higher rate of adverse events than developed nations.  However, there are no strategies in place to prevent these events from occurring.

The objective of this study is to elicit barriers and enablers of safe, high-quality care as identified by consumers, and to develop recommendations for consumer input into quality improvement, generated from the analysis of narrative accounts of their experiences in developing countries. The central aim is to build local research capacity and to help raise awareness about patient safety in developing countries.

The study builds on the current body of knowledge on safety and quality in the health care environment by recording narrative accounts of consumers’ experiences of compromised safety and quality by discovery interview method, and to evaluate the degree to which this can contribute to quality improvement processes in three geographical regions of Africa – Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa. The project will contribute to building local research capacity and will help raise awareness about patient safety in developing countries.