Browsing by Author "Otchere, F."
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Item COVID-19 and child education outcomes in Southern Ghana(Heliyon, 2024) Okyere, C. Y.; Otchere, F.; Darko, J. K.; Osei, C. K.This study analyses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child education outcomes by providing evidence on the gendered dimension, determinants and coping measures of informal households in Southern Ghana. We rely on a face-to-face interview undertaken in January 2022 (i.e., approximately 2 years after the beginning of the pandemic) involving 761 students across basic and secondary schools from 10 metropolitan, municipality and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. We document several disruptions to child education out comes such as learning practices, school attendance, class participation and academic perfor mance. The results also showed that per child education expenditure incurred due to the COVID 19 pandemic by the informal households was GHS305 (US$ 49). Additionally, we assess the correlates of the negative effects on academic performance and COVID-19 related education expenditure as a result of coping measures. Our results from Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) show strong association between participation in online classes, age of students, ownership of television and district of residence on COVID-19 related education expenditure. Results from Logit models show that self-reported negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on academic performance are affected by gender and age of student, distance to market and location of residence. Interestingly, we also found considerable gendered heterogeneity for the predictors of the COVID-19 pandemic on child education outcomes. We conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated countermeasures had negative effects on child education outcomes, and that informal households incurred considerable costs in attempting to address the associated education challenges in Southern Ghana. The findings have implications on the design and implementation of educational policies and programs to address the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child ed ucation outcomes in developing countries.Item Ghana's national health insurance scheme and maternal and child health: A mixed methods study(BMC Health Services Research, 2015-03) Singh, K.; Osei-Akoto, I.; Otchere, F.; Sodzi-Tettey, S.; Barrington, C.; Huang, C.; Fordham, C.; Speizer, I.Background: Ghana is attracting global attention for efforts to provide health insurance to all citizens through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). With the program's strong emphasis on maternal and child health, an expectation of the program is that members will have increased use of relevant services. Methods: This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data from a baseline assessment for the Maternal and Newborn errals Evaluation from the Northern and Central Regions to describe women's experiences with the NHIS and to study associations between insurance and skilled facility delivery, antenatal care and early care-seeking for sick children. The assessment included a quantitative household survey (n = 1267 women), a quantitative community leader survey (n = 62), qualitative birth narratives with mothers (n = 20) and fathers (n = 18), key informant interviews with health care workers (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 3) with community leaders and stakeholders. The key independent variables for the quantitative analyses were health insurance coverage during the past three years (categorized as all three years, 1-2 years or no coverage) and health insurance during the exact time of pregnancy. Results: Quantitative findings indicate that insurance coverage during the past three years and insurance during pregnancy were associated with greater use of facility delivery but not ANC. Respondents with insurance were also significantly more likely to indicate that an illness need not be severe for them to take a sick child for care. The NHIS does appear to enable pregnant women to access services and allow caregivers to seek care early for sick children, but both the quantitative and qualitative assessments also indicated that the poor and least educated were less likely to have insurance than their wealthier and more educated counterparts. Findings from the qualitative interviews uncovered specific challenges women faced regarding registration for the NHIS and other barriers such lack of understanding of who and what services were covered for free. Conclusion: Efforts should be undertaken so all individuals understand the NHIS policy including who is eligible for free services and what services are covered. Increasing access to health insurance will enable Ghana to further improve maternal and child health outcomes. © 2015 Singh et al.Item Ghana’s National Health insurance scheme and maternal and child health: a mixed methods study(2015-03-17) Singh, K.; Osei-Akoto, I.; Otchere, F.; Sodzi-Tettey, S.; Barrington, C.; Huang, C.; Fordham, C.; Speizer, I.Abstract Background Ghana is attracting global attention for efforts to provide health insurance to all citizens through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). With the program’s strong emphasis on maternal and child health, an expectation of the program is that members will have increased use of relevant services. Methods This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data from a baseline assessment for the Maternal and Newborn errals Evaluation from the Northern and Central Regions to describe women’s experiences with the NHIS and to study associations between insurance and skilled facility delivery, antenatal care and early care-seeking for sick children. The assessment included a quantitative household survey (n = 1267 women), a quantitative community leader survey (n = 62), qualitative birth narratives with mothers (n = 20) and fathers (n = 18), key informant interviews with health care workers (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 3) with community leaders and stakeholders. The key independent variables for the quantitative analyses were health insurance coverage during the past three years (categorized as all three years, 1–2 years or no coverage) and health insurance during the exact time of pregnancy. Results Quantitative findings indicate that insurance coverage during the past three years and insurance during pregnancy were associated with greater use of facility delivery but not ANC. Respondents with insurance were also significantly more likely to indicate that an illness need not be severe for them to take a sick child for care. The NHIS does appear to enable pregnant women to access services and allow caregivers to seek care early for sick children, but both the quantitative and qualitative assessments also indicated that the poor and least educated were less likely to have insurance than their wealthier and more educated counterparts. Findings from the qualitative interviews uncovered specific challenges women faced regarding registration for the NHIS and other barriers such lack of understanding of who and what services were covered for free. Conclusion Efforts should be undertaken so all individuals understand the NHIS policy including who is eligible for free services and what services are covered. Increasing access to health insurance will enable Ghana to further improve maternal and child health outcomes.