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Miranda Montoya

Engl 1302-228

Professor Briones

February 6, 2024

Healthcare Systems Worldwide: An Annotated Bibliography

Abbas, Kaja M, et al. “Healthcare Access and Quality Index Based on Mortality from Causes

Amenable to Personal Health Care in 195 Countries and Territories, 1990–2015: A Novel

Analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.” The Lancet (British edition)

390.10091 (2017): 231–266. Web.

In this article, the authors discuss a study that measures the quality of healthcare and its

accessibility in different countries around the world. The researchers used various factors,

such as causes of mortality that should be preventable with adequate medical care, to

evaluate the performance of healthcare systems. By using data from the Global Burden of

Diseases, Injury, and Risk Factors Study (GBD), they mapped a list of the impact of

healthcare on 32 causes identified by the GBD. The study suggests that there is

improvement to come in healthcare access and quality worldwide. Even with progress,

some parts of the world and specific countries continue to struggle to consistently provide

the best possible healthcare across various cultures. In essence, the research emphasizes

the importance of ongoing efforts to improve healthcare systems worldwide. The focus

should be on tackling inequalities and enhancing access to high-quality healthcare.

Daabek, Najeh, et al. “Why People Forgo Healthcare in France: A National Survey of 164 092

Individuals to Inform Healthcare Policy-Makers.” International journal of health policy

and management 11.12 (2022): 2972–2981. Web.

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The article states that some countries that have universal healthcare provisions are often

ignored by their citizens. Economic and geographic inequalities can cause some barriers

to accessing healthcare. Some factors include the need to pay at the point of care, and the

cost of health insurance can discourage individuals from seeking necessary healthcare,

ultimately impacting the overall health of the population. Researchers used a survey

conducted between 2015 and 2018 in France to estimate the rate of forgoing healthcare in

the general population. Participant were asked whether they had healthcare, what types of

healthcare they avoided, and what was the reason behind their decision. This helped

provide insight into healthcare avoidance in a developed country, emphasizing the need

for review by the policymakers regarding payments, insurance coverage, and healthcare

availability and accessibility.

Damaske, Sarah. “Gender, Family, and Healthcare during Unemployment: Healthcare Seeking,

Healthcare Work, and Self‐sacrifice.” Journal of marriage and family 84.1 (2022):

291–309. Web.

This article claims to explore how healthcare may change over time during a period of

unemployment. The research uses data from 100 in-depth interviews conducted with

unemployed men and women from 2013 to 2015. Results show that many women tended

to stop seeking healthcare for themselves. Some men rejected obligations to provide

healthcare insurance for their families. A majority of the women discussed prioritizing

family considerations while making healthcare decisions. The study shows that gender

norms about family responsibilities extend to healthcare-seeking behaviors and family

healthcare work. This emphasizes that these men's obligations are influenced by social

class and evolve over time, especially in providing health insurance for their families.
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Handtke, Oriana, Benjamin Schilgen, and Mike Mösko. “Culturally Competent Healthcare - A

Scoping Review of Strategies Implemented in Healthcare Organizations and a Model of

Culturally Competent Healthcare Provision.” PloS one 14.7 (2019): e0219971–e0219971.

Web.

This article takes a look at the difficulties people from different cultures and languages

face in healthcare services, difficulties such as language barriers or differences in health

benefits. The article adds to this issue by expressing that they want to make healthcare

more accessible for everyone. They did a detailed investigation that aims to gather

information about different strategies that have been tested and proven effective in

making healthcare more culturally competent. Once they collected the information, they

organized a plan that would outline the best way to provide healthcare that provides for

all different cultures and patients.

Kanmiki, Edmund W. et al. “Equity in Maternal Healthcare Utilisation in Ghana: Do

Community‐based Primary Health Care Programmes Matter?” Tropical medicine &

international health 28.5 (2023): 409–418. Web.

In this article, the author's goal was to enhance fairness in the use of maternal health

services in rural and remote areas. The research investigates the impact of a

community-based program called the Ghana Essential Health Interventions Program

(GEHIP). They data was taken from surveys conducted before and after the program in

intervention and were analyzed. Results indicated that coverage rates for maternal health

services increased in both intervention and comparison districts. Although efforts to

enhance community-based healthcare access have positively influenced the coverage of

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maternal health services, the impact on improving equity in coverage is varied. This

suggests a need to extend community-based primary healthcare beyond general access to

ensure coverage of maternal and child health services provided.

López García, Ana Isabel, and Pedro P. Orraca-Romano. “International Migration and Universal

Healthcare Access: Evidence from Mexico’s ‘Seguro Popular.’” Oxford Development

Studies 47.2 (2019): 171–187. Web.

This study looked at the healthcare program in Mexico called Seguro Popular. This

program started in 2001 and was designed for people without health insurance. In 2000,

50% of Mexico's population was uninsured, but in 2015, nearly 45% of the citizens were

affiliated with the healthcare program. Mexico continues to be the country with the

highest out-of-pocket spending on healthcare and the lowest levels of public spending.

Nakovics, Meike Irene, et al. “Determinants of Healthcare Seeking and Out-of-Pocket

Expenditures in a ‘Free’ Healthcare System: Evidence from Rural Malawi.” Health

economics review 10.1 (2020): 14–14. Web.

This study looks at the cost of Malawi's out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE). By

monitoring its financial protection, it achieves universal health coverage, which is able to

grant free access to care. The researchers used data from two surveys conducted in 2012

and 2013. They are focusing on OOPE, which could only be observed for those who had

sought care initially. The researchers finding indicate that offering free healthcare

services is not sufficient to guarantee widespread financial coverage. The country would

need to require the protection of vulnerable population groups. In all, it emphasizes the

need for a more comprehensive approach to address the factors of OOPE, even if

healthcare services are intended to be free.

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Rydland, Håvard T et al. “Educational Inequalities in Mortality Amenable to Healthcare. A

Comparison of European Healthcare Systems.” PloS one 15.7 (2020):

e0234135–e0234135. Web.

In this article, Rydland argues that the different types of healthcare systems are directly

linked to mortality susceptibility to healthcare among many European countries. The

researchers studied data on the different diseases that cause death and diseases

susceptible to healthcare in 21 European countries. The researchers focused on ages

35-79, spanning from 1998 to 2006. The tests they analyzed were to understand between

country differences and whether some healthcare system types exhibit higher inequalities.

As a result, the low supply and low-performance mixed healthcare system had the highest

inequality for both males and females. The regulation-oriented public healthcare systems

showed the overall lowest inequalities. The article discussed potential mechanisms

connecting healthcare systems, social position, and health. This suggests that future

research should examine the role of specific characteristics of healthcare systems in

greater detail.

Sinclair, Shane, et al. “What Are Healthcare Providers’ Understandings and Experiences of

Compassion? The Healthcare Compassion Model: A Grounded Theory Study of

Healthcare Providers in Canada.” BMJ open 8.3 (2018): e019701–e019701. Web.

This article focuses on understanding the concept of compassion in healthcare from the

perspective of healthcare providers. The researchers did this by collecting data through

focus groups involving frontline healthcare providers and interviews with providers

nominated to have great compassionate care. They chose 57 healthcare providers

recruited from urban and rural care services in Canada. The results show the various
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dimensions of compassion and understand how healthcare providers perceive and deliver

compassionate care. This can help guide clinical practices and aim to improve

compassion in healthcare.

Young, Richard A. “What Do We Mean, ‘Necessary’?—Achieving Balance and Recognizing

Limits in Primary Healthcare and Universal Healthcare.” Journal of Evaluation in

Clinical Practice 28.2 (2022): 341–344. Web.

Young starts this article by stating that humans make the choices. He then explains that

we all agree that healthcare should strive to improve the negatives in our health, but as

we all know, that can never be possible. The article turns into how the different countries

in the world are taking action to lower care costs while still being able to maintain the

acceptable care needed. For example, the United States had Obamacare and health

savings accounts. Britain's national health service stopped approving the use of expensive

cancer drugs. Sweden's general practitioners do not promote primary prevention of heart

disease medications like Britain. The author understands that healthcare cannot improve

unless there's a balance between the patients and the system's needs.