Bottom-up approach to strengthen community-based malaria control strategy from community health workers’ perceptions of their past, present, and future: a qualitative study in Palawan, Philippines

Bottom-up approach to strengthen community-based malaria control strategy from community health workers’ perceptions of their past, present, and future: a qualitative study in Palawan, Philippines

Blog Article

Abstract Background Microscopists have active roles in bringing malaria diagnosis and treatment closer to households in Palawan, the highest malaria-endemic province in the Philippines.To accelerate Vinegars the elimination of malaria in Palawan, we performed a study based on the bottom-up approach to provide profound data to strengthen this community-based malaria control from the microscopists’ point of view.Methods We performed a qualitative cross-sectional study in Palawan.Four focus group discussions with 50 microscopists were conducted in Palawan from November 2010 to February 2011.During the discussions, the following open-ended questions were addressed: motivation for applying to be microscopists in the “Past” category; job satisfaction, role, problems, and saddest and happiest experiences working as microscopists in the “Present” category; and willingness towards task shifting in the “Future” category.

Data were transcribed and analyzed by framework analysis using the NVivo software program.Results The present study innovatively proposed the following strategies: reinforcement strategy (adequate supplies and settings), highly prioritized additional strategies (improving social status of microscopists, issuing a travel budget, and including indigenous populations), regional additional strategies (additional malaria control in the southern region and task shifting in the northern region), and M TOPS less prioritized additional strategies (employment policy and health checkup).Conclusion A bottom-up approach using microscopists’ perceptions would be a valuable method to propose practical and effective additional strategies for strengthening community-based malaria control.