Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

Introduction: National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) recommends provision of adequate funding and oversight to ensure every Health Facility is visited for Supportive Supervision (SS) at least once quarterly. The existing funding structure involves disbursement of funds to the State and Local Government authorities on a quarterly basis for SS. Administrative bottlenecks in funds disbursement however contribute to low level of SS visits. This study therefore aimed at determining the effectiveness of direct funding of supervisors on SS and whether improved supervision could lead to improved RI data quality. Methodology: Twelve Local Government Areas (LGAs) were randomly categorized into six interventions and six control groups. RI supervisors of each LGA in the intervention category were trained and directly funded for supervision over a 6-month period. The control category had no training or funding but depended on the existing funding structure. Baseline and follow up data was collected in both groups and then compared for data consistency across data tools. Results: Comparison of the post intervention data for the two categories reveals a higher percentage of HFs reporting consistent data in the intervention LGAs than the in the control group. Substantial reduction in data discrepancies were observed in RI reports from intervention HFs when compared with the baseline data. Conclusion: The results obtained from this study reveals that SS may be a useful tool in improving data quality. Consequently, efforts should be geared towards instituting a data quality centered SS through a funding mechanism that works with minimal bottlenecks.

Biography

E-mail: tunnybabsmed@yahoo.com