Geog 472: SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF HEALTH AND

DEVELOPMENT
Lecture: Types of Medical/Health Systems

By
Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah
 Introduction

 There are two main types of Medical

Systems: Modern and Traditional
 Modern Health Care
 Types of Modern Health Care
 Quaternary: provides world-class patient care, training, and
research.
 Teaching Hospitals: A teaching hospital, or academic medical
center, is a hospital that partners with medical and nursing
schools, education programs and research centers to improve
health care through learning and research.
 Regional Hospitals: Regional Hospitals provide a secondary level
of healthcare for the regions where they are located. They form
an integral part of the regional health system.
 Modern Health Care cont’
 Types of Modern Health Care
 District Hospitals
 Polyclinic: A polyclinic is a larger medical facility than an
individual clinic but smaller than a hospital. It is a medical centre
where a patient can meet several doctors, get pathological tests
and minor procedures done. It provides expanded range of
Primary Health Care Services much higher than a Health Centre
but in terms of capacity less than a District Hospital.
 Health Post/Health Centre: The main purpose of the health
posts is to provide basic health facilities to the people in its area.
 Modern Health Care cont’
Types of Modern health care
Community-Based Health Planning and
Services (CHPS):The Community-based Health
Planning and Services (CHPS) is a national
health reform programme that provides
healthcare at the doorsteps of rural community
members, particularly, women and children. It
seeks to reduce health inequalities and promote
equity of health outcomes.
 Modern Health Care cont’
Types of Modern Health Care

CHPS is made of the following principles namely@

1. Community participation
2. Empowerment
3. Ownership
4. Gender considerations
5. Volunteerism
Modern Health Care
 Modern Health Care
 Types of Modern Health Care
 Health Class 0 (HC0): Pharmacy
 Health Class 1 (HC1): CHPS, Clinic, Maternity Home
 Health Class 2 (HC2): Health Centre/Health Post
 Health Class 3 (HC3): Polyclinic
 Health Class 4 (HC4): District Hospital, Hospital
 Health Class 5 (HC5): Psychiatric Hospital, Quaternary hospital,
Regional Hospital, Teaching Hospital
 Traditional Medicine
 What is Traditional Medicine
Traditional medicine refers to the knowledge, skills and
practices based on the theories, beliefs, and
experiences indigenous to different cultures, used in
the maintenance of health and in the prevention,
diagnosis, improvement, or treatment of physical and
mental illness.
P. A. Twumasi defines traditional medicine as “the
service performed. through the utilization of magico-
religious acts and concepts.”
 Traditional Medicine
 Types of Traditional Medicine Practitioners
Diviners
Herbalists
Spiritualists
Healers
Traditional Birth Attendants
 Strengths of Traditional Medicine
Strengths of TMP
• -Culturally more acceptable
• -Generally quite adaptive
• -They perform several primarily psychological and sociological
functions
• Possess a large body of indigenous technical knowledge
• Treat a broad spectrum of disease, including conditions that
are not diagnosed, are misdiagnosed, or are incompletely
diagnosed
 Weaknesses of Traditional
Medicine
Weaknesses of Traditional Medicine
-Lack of standardized training for TMps
-Dosage Imprecision
-Measurement imprecise
-Often lack elementary understanding of the
functions of hygiene and sanitation
 Weaknesses of Modern Medicine
Weaknesses of Modern Medicine
-Inaccessible to many people
√. Distance
√. Cost
-Targets curative services rendered in hospital
settings
-Misinterpretation of patients symptons
THANK YOU