Quality Improvement in the Delivery of Health Services in Belize

Overview and Objectives

This project entry merges three separate activities in support of health services in Belize:

Improvement of Maternal and Neonatal Health in Belize (2009-2010)
URC provided technical support to improve maternal and neonatal health through supporting an initial collaborative and building improvement capacity in Belize. Achievements:

• Developed a Quality Improvement Maternal and Neonatal Care Policy
• Established neonatal standards and indicators
• Developed a change package with improvement objectives and a monitoring system
• Improved compliance with active management of the third stage of labor, increased use of partographs, and improved postpartum care

Quality Improvement of Family Planning Care (2011)
URC provided technical assistance to the Belize Ministry of Health (MOH) to strengthen contraceptive services in the country. Objectives:

• Supported the MOH in strengthening contraceptive services
• Strengthened health care providers competency in contraceptive services
• Improved compliance with protocols on contraception
• Established a monitoring system of quality standards and indicators

Achievements:

• Created a job aid for adolescent sexual reproductive health
• Created and printed a job aid on contraceptive methods
• Developed the Belize MOH family planning protocol
• Trained healthcare providers on the family planning initiative

Quality Improvement in the Delivery of Health Services in Belize (2013-2014)
Under the MesoAmerica Health Initiative 2015, URC provided technical assistance to the Belize Ministry of Health to improve access to and use and quality of maternal, infant, child, and reproductive health services. The program had three components:

1. Quality improvement of maternal, newborn, child, and reproductive health services;
2. Health service delivery strengthening for increased coverage; and
3. Administration and auditing.

Objectives:

• Reviewing, assessing, and systematizing the maternal and newborn health care collaborative improvement model and advising on developing materials to communicate improvements to more facilities.
• Establishing standards and indicators to improve the process of care of:
  • Sexual and reproductive health services, including those for adolescents;
  • Integrated management of childhood illnesses, including child nutrition; and
  • The community health workers network.
• Conducting baseline value measures of the process of care of
  • Sexual and reproductive health services, including those for adolescents;
  • Integrated management of childhood illnesses, including child nutrition; and
  • Community health workers in Northern and Western Health Regions.
• Developing monitoring tools at the facility and community level and reviewing content for manuals and tools
• Training district health teams to supervise and train community health workers in sexual and reproductive health services and integrated management of childhood illnesses
• Delivering training for relevant staff in collaborative improvement methods.