Bronwyn Harris
University of the Witwatersrand, Centre for Health Policy, Department Member
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In this article, we consider the conduct of post-apartheid health care in a policy context directed toward entrenching democracy, ensuring treatment-adherent patients, and creating a healthy populace actively responsible for their own... more
In this article, we consider the conduct of post-apartheid health care in a policy context directed toward entrenching democracy, ensuring treatment-adherent patients, and creating a healthy populace actively responsible for their own health. We ask how tuberculosis treatment, antiretroviral therapy, and maternal services are delivered within South Africa's health system, an institutional site of colonial and apartheid injustice, and democratic reform. Using Foucauldian and post-Foucauldian notions of governmentality, we explore provider ways of doing to, for, and with patients in three health subdistricts. Although restorative provider engagements are expected in policy, older authoritarian and paternalistic norms persist in practice. These challenge and reshape, even 'undo' democratic assertions of citizenship, while producing compliant, self-responsible patients. Alongside the need to address pervasive structural barriers to health care, a restorative approach require...
Publication Date: Jan 6, 2016
Publication Name: Medical anthropology
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South Africa is at present undertaking a series of reforms to transform public health services to make them more effective and responsive to patient and provider needs. A key focus of these reforms is primary care and its overburdened,... more
South Africa is at present undertaking a series of reforms to transform public health services to make them more effective and responsive to patient and provider needs. A key focus of these reforms is primary care and its overburdened, somewhat dysfunctional and hierarchical nature. This comparative case study examines how patients and providers respond in this system and cope with its systemic demands through mechanisms of endurance, resistance and resilience, using coping and agency literatures as the theoretical lenses. As part of a larger research project carried out between 2009 and 2010, this study conducted semi-structured interviews and observations at health facilities in three South African provinces. This study explored patient experiences of access to health care, in particular, ways of coping and how health care providers cope with the health care system's realities. From this interpretive base, four cases (two patients, two providers) were selected as they best informed on endurance, resistance and resilience. Some commentary from other respondents is added to underline the more ubiquitous nature of these coping mechanisms. The cases of four individuals highlight the complexity of different forms of endurance and passivity, emotion- and problem-based coping with health care interactions in an overburdened, under-resourced and, in some instances, poorly managed system. Patients' narratives show the micro-practices they use to cope with their treatment, by not recognizing victimhood and sometimes practising unhealthy behaviours. Providers indicate how they cope in their work situations by using peer support and becoming knowledgeable in providing good service. Resistance and resilience narratives show the adaptive power of individuals in dealing with difficult illness, circumstances or treatment settings. They permit individuals to do more than endure (itself a coping mechanism) their circumstances, though resistance and resilience may be limited. These are individual responses to systemic forces. To transform health care, mutually supportive interactions are required among and between both patients and providers but their nature, as micro-practices, may show a way forward for system change.
Publication Date: 2015
Publication Name: BMC Health Services Research
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Exploring the perceptions and experiences of community health workers using role identity theorymore
by Mosa Moshabela and Bronwyn Harris
Community health workers (CHWs) are an integral resource in many health systems, particularly in resource-poor settings. Their identities--'who' they are--play an important role in their hiring, training, and retention. We... more
Community health workers (CHWs) are an integral resource in many health systems, particularly in resource-poor settings. Their identities--'who' they are--play an important role in their hiring, training, and retention. We explore the perceptions, experiences, and identities of CHWs as they adopt a CHW role in rural South Africa, using 'role identity theory'. From April to December 2010, we conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with CHWs volunteering in non-governmental home-based care (HBC) organisations in one rural sub-district in South Africa. The role identity theory framework was used to understand the work of CHWs within their communities, addressing themes, such as entry into, and nature of, caring roles, organisational support, state resourcing, and community acceptability. A thematic content analysis was used to analyse the collected data. The study found that CHWs usually begin their 'caring work' before they formally join HBC organisations, by caring for children, neighbours, mothers, fathers, friends, and the community in some way. CHWs felt that becoming a health worker provided an elevated status within the community, but that it often led community members to believe they were able to control resources. The key role identities assumed by CHWs, as they sought to meet patients' and their own needs, were a complex mix of community 'insider', 'outsider', and 'broker'. Each of these role identities served as a unique way to position, from the CHW's perspective, themselves and the community, given the diversity of needs and expectations. These role identities reveal the tensions CHWs face as 'insider' members of the community and yet at times being treated as 'outsiders', who might be regarded with suspicion, and at the same time, appreciated for the resources that they might possess. Understanding role identities, and how best to support them, may contribute to strategies of retention and sustainability of CHW programmes, as their formalisation in different contexts continues to grow.
Publication Date: 2015
Publication Name: Global Health Action
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Suspicious Minds: Apportioning and Avoiding Blame for Distrustful Relationships and Deferring Medical Treatment in South Africamore
by Jana Fried and Bronwyn Harris
This paper examines elements of mistrust, blame and suspicion among patients and providers in the South African health system which affect practice and policy development. Using stories told by patients and providers in Cape Town,... more
This paper examines elements of mistrust, blame and suspicion among patients and providers in the South African health system which affect practice and policy development. Using stories told by patients and providers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Bushbuckridge, it examines how suspicion is constructed and how others are blamed for adverse outcomes. This paper sets a conceptual framework which examines the attribution of blame in contemporary social and political life, the narratives of 45 patients receiving HIV/AIDS, TB or maternal delivery services and those of 63 providers dealing with similar treatments and arranged across a series of facilities, clinics, hospitals and mobile vans were constructed and shared with participants. These narratives form the basis of the results sections which examines suspicions among both providers and patients with the former seeing the latter as having no respect and regard and providing poor care and access to grants. Providers saw themselves as highly stressed but diligent with service challenges being blamed on patient ignorance, unreasonable demands and failure to follow medical advice. The paper ends with a discussion on how to limit mistrust and reduce suspicion through more cooperative provider-patient relations and what this kind of evidence means for decision-makers.
Publication Date: 2015
Publication Name: Sociology Mind
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Acceptable care? Illness constructions, healthworlds, and accessible chronic treatment in South Africamore
by Jana Fried and Bronwyn Harris
Achieving equitable access to health care is an important policy goal, with access influenced by affordability, availability, and acceptability of specific services. We explore patient narratives from a 5-year program of research on... more
Achieving equitable access to health care is an important policy goal, with access influenced by affordability, availability, and acceptability of specific services. We explore patient narratives from a 5-year program of research on health care access to examine relationships between social constructions of illness and the acceptability of health services in the context of tuberculosis treatment and antiretroviral therapy in South Africa. Acceptability of services seems particularly important to the meanings patients attach to illness and care, whereas-conversely-these constructions appear to influence what constitutes acceptability and hence affect access to care. We highlight the underestimated role of individually, socially, and politically constructed healthworlds; traditional and biomedical beliefs; and social support networks. Suggested policy implications for improving acceptability and hence overall health care access include abandoning patronizing approaches to care and ref...
Publication Date: 2015
Publication Name: Qualitative health research
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National Health Insurance (NHI) is currently high on the health policy agenda. The intention of this financing system is to promote efficiency and the equitable distribution of financial and human resources, improving health outcomes for... more
National Health Insurance (NHI) is currently high on the health policy agenda. The intention of this financing system is to promote efficiency and the equitable distribution of financial and human resources, improving health outcomes for the majority. However, there are some key prerequisites that need to be in place before an NHI can achieve these goals. To explore public perceptions on what changes in the public health system are necessary to ensure acceptability and sustainability of an NHI, and whether South Africans are ready for a change in the health system. A cross-sectional nationally representative survey of 4 800 households was undertaken, using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed in STATA IC10. There is dissatisfaction with both public and private sectors, suggesting South Africans are ready for health system change. Concerns about the quality of public sector services relate primarily to patient-provider engagements (empathic staff attitudes, communication an...
Publication Date: 2009
Publication Name: South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Publication Date: 2014
Publication Name: Globalization and Health
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Publication Date: 2012
Publication Name: The Lancet
Research Interests: Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, Humans, Universal Coverage, and 4 moreIncome, Taxes, Lancet, and Health Expenditures
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Publication Date: 2012
Publication Name: Tropical Medicine & International Health
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by Jana Fried and Bronwyn Harris
Using the example of South Africa, this study aimed to examine and obtain a better understanding of the experiences and challenges of urban and rural patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in accessing this complex treatment in a... more
Using the example of South Africa, this study aimed to examine and obtain a better understanding of the experiences and challenges of urban and rural patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in accessing this complex treatment in a resource-limited setting. Following a narrative approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 patients successfully and unsuccessfully (ie, with interruptions) receiving ART in urban Johannesburg and rural Bushbuckridge, using a detailed interview guide structured to illuminate interviewees' life circumstances and contextualise illness and treatment trajectories. Participants were interviewed by trained fieldworkers in their local languages. The translated and transcribed interviews were coded by several team members. Codes were cross-examined and showed good congruence. All interviewees emphasised the positive aspects of receiving ART, the lifeline and hope it provided by improving health, increasing their ability to live actively and reducing visible signs of (stigmatised) illness. Important factors supporting continuing adherence included social and economic support by individuals, role models and networks as well as positive experiences within the healthcare system and of the treatment itself. The main challenges were linked to patients' difficult life circumstances, especially those related to poverty (eg, transport and food costs) and health system constraints, including perceived lack of compassion and flexibility by healthcare workers. While there are many challenges for the sustainability of ART on an individual and health system level, this study emphasised the need for a patient-centric focus to continue to provide and increase the number of HIV-positive people receiving this lifeline, receiving hope.
Publication Date: 2012
Publication Name: Sexually Transmitted Infections
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The use of traditional medicine is widespread in developing countries. We report on the utilization of traditional healers, using data obtained in a 2008 national survey of 4762 households in South Africa. Only 1.2 per cent of survey... more
The use of traditional medicine is widespread in developing countries. We report on the utilization of traditional healers, using data obtained in a 2008 national survey of 4762 households in South Africa. Only 1.2 per cent of survey participants reported utilization of traditional healers. Respondents' reasons for visiting traditional healers included continuity of care and a belief in their effectiveness. Traditional healer utilization rates (0.02 visits per month) were considerably lower compared to utilization rates of public sector clinics (0.18 visits per month) or hospitals (0.09 visits per month). Almost three-quarters of the poorest quintile spent more than 10 per cent of their household expenditure in the previous month on traditional healers. Given the use of two parallel health-care systems, policy-makers should develop strategies to protect poor South Africans from out-of-pocket payments for health care. Simultaneous utilization of these systems evidently absorbs expenditure from low-income households significantly.
Publication Date: 2011
Publication Name: Journal of Public Health Policy
Research Interests: Social Policy, Public Health Policy, Transportation, Health Policy, Adolescent, and 15 moreSocial Class, South Africa, Humans, International Public Health, Public, Health Policies, Female, Male, Young Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Public Administration and Policy, Adult, Cost of Illness, and Health Care Costs
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Achieving equitable universal health coverage requires the provision of accessible, necessary services for the entire population without imposing an unaffordable burden on individuals or households. In South Africa, little is known about... more
Achieving equitable universal health coverage requires the provision of accessible, necessary services for the entire population without imposing an unaffordable burden on individuals or households. In South Africa, little is known about access barriers to health care for the general population. We explore affordability, availability, and acceptability of services through a nationally representative household survey (n = 4668), covering utilization, health status, reasons for delaying care, perceptions and experiences of services, and health-care expenditure. Socio-economic status, race, insurance status, and urban-rural location were associated with access to care, with black Africans, poor, uninsured and rural respondents, experiencing greatest barriers. Understanding access barriers from the user perspective is important for expanding health-care coverage, both in South Africa and in other low- and middle-income countries.
Publication Date: 2011
Publication Name: Journal of Public Health Policy
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Publication Date: 2011
Publication Name: Journal of Public Health Policy
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In South Africa, anticipated health sector reforms aim to achieve universal health coverage for all citizens. Success will depend on social solidarity and willingness to pay for health care according to means, while benefitting on the... more
In South Africa, anticipated health sector reforms aim to achieve universal health coverage for all citizens. Success will depend on social solidarity and willingness to pay for health care according to means, while benefitting on the basis of their need. In this study, we interviewed 1330 health and education sector civil servants in four South African provinces, about potential income cross-subsidies and financing mechanisms for a National Health Insurance. One third was willing to cross-subsidize others and half favored a progressive financing system, with senior managers, black Africans, or those with tertiary education more likely to choose these options than lower-skilled staff, white, Indian or Asian respondents, or those with primary or less education. Insurance- and health-status were not associated with willingness to pay or preferred type of financing system. Understanding social relationships, identities, and shared meanings is important for any reform striving toward universal coverage.
Publication Date: 2011
Publication Name: Journal of Public Health Policy
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Bringing Justice to Unacceptable Health Care Services? Street-Level Reflections from Urban South Africamore
by Jana Fried and Bronwyn Harris
ABSTRACT Transforming repressive institutions into respected instruments of justice is necessary for the social reconstruction of fragile and postconflict states. Yet, little attention has been given to the role of health systems in... more
ABSTRACT Transforming repressive institutions into respected instruments of justice is necessary for the social reconstruction of fragile and postconflict states. Yet, little attention has been given to the role of health systems in facilitating such change. We situate South Africa’s right to access health care as part of a broader sociopolitical endeavour to ‘bring justice’ in the aftermath of apartheid and argue that street-level bureaucrats tasked with delivering health services are a gauge of both individual and institutional transformation. Using cases from two urban areas, we consider responses to inaccessible antiretroviral therapy, tuberculosis treatment and maternal deliveries and ask whether these ameliorate or compound access barriers. We also explore some conditions for bringing justice to street-level interactions. Our cases suggest that, if left unchallenged, negative street-level bureaucracy may compound inaccessible care for patients and perpetuate a wider culture of disempowerment, deprivation and poverty – ongoing structural violence – for citizens, while positive provider practices may be ameliorative. Strengthening street-level accountability and engendering respectful, empathetic provider practices is consequently vital to improving access to services and contributing more generally to the restoration of justice and health in society.
Publication Date: 2014
Publication Name: International Journal of Transitional Justice
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Publication Date: 2012
Publication Name: Health Policy and Planning
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Social solidarity and willingness to tolerate risk- and income-related cross-subsidies within health insurance: experiences from Ghana, Tanzania and South Africamore
by Jane Goudge and Bronwyn Harris
Publication Date: 2012
Publication Name: Health Policy and Planning
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Publication Date: 2012
Publication Name: BMC Health Services Research
Research Interests: Obstetrics, Quality of Mental Health Care, Qualitative Research, Adolescent, Travel, and 13 moreLibrary and Information Studies, South Africa, Pregnancy, Humans, Female, Regression Analysis, Young Adult, Middle Aged, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Time Factors, Urban Population, and Socioeconomic Factors
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Publication Date: 2013
Publication Name: Global Health Action
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Publication Date: 2002
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