It is a tool for analysing the interaction between the different sectors of an economy. An understanding of inter-sectoral interactions can aid in optimizing the planning of public health policies.
Such analyses result in creation of ‘Input-output matrices’.
The main function is to make it possible to evaluate a sector’s requirements to satisfy a given demand for goods and services.
Cost accounting is the process of estimating and classifying costs of healthcare incurred by governments or other organizations.
The costs are categorized under various heads e.g. salaries, material costs, radiology costs, canteen, allied services for visitors, burden costs (rent, water, electricity etc.).
References:
• WHO, 1974. Modern Management Methods and the Organization of Health Services; Geneva
• WHO, 2006 . Guidelines for conducting cost–benefit analysis of household energy and health interventions; eds: Guy Hutton,Eva Rehfuess. WHO press, Geneva.
• WHO, 2003. Who Guide to Cost- Effectiveness Analysis; Geneva
• Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Community Medicine. 24th ed, 2017, Bhanot Publishers, Jabalpur
• Usually, once a particular welfare policy is selected after CBA, Cost effective analysis is used to identify the least expensive method of attaining that definite result.
– CEA involves choosing one among different possible ways for achieving the desired result.
– E.g. it was calculated that ‘reduction in indoor air pollution’ would result in greatest economic benefit (after CBA) to the population, various possible ways of achieving this are analyzed using cost – effective analysis
• Public funds are never sufficient. Hence, there is a need to rank various projects so that the officials can select the intervention that would deliver the highest monetary return to the population
• The next ranked intervention would be considered when more funds become available or after the first one is complete
• Hence, in CBA, costs and benefits are expressed in monetary terms i.e.'cost= money spent' and 'benefit = money saved +money earned'.
This comprehensive guide explains all the public-health terms used in a community or family health survey format.
It covers how to draw locality and household maps, definitions of family types, identifying the head of the household, calculating dependency ratio, and determining socioeconomic status using Kuppuswamy, Pareek and BG Prasad scales.
The blog also explains assessment of overcrowding, ventilation, lighting, mosquito/fly breeding sites, and water-supply types. Nutrition-related concepts such as Reference Man/Woman, Consumption Units, RDA, EAR, TUL, and methods of dietary survey are clearly described.
Under Maternal and Child Health, key terms—including puerperium, early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding, weaning, and “fully” vs. “completely” immunized child—are explained in simple, practical language.
This article serves as an essential reference for MBBS students, community-medicine trainees, and health workers performing family health surveys or community diagnosis.
Puerperium: It is the period of 6 weeks immediately after delivery. In this period, the changes which took place in the organs/systems of the woman during pregnancy, come back to normal. This is also known as the post-partum period.
“Pareek’s scale” (Tables 1 and 2) was developed by Pareek for calculating the SES of a family in a rural area. It consists of nine items—caste, occupation of the HOF, education of the HOF, level of social participation of the HOF, landholding, housing, farm power (animals), material possession, and type of family.
Dietary survey is done to assess the quantities of food items and nutrients consumed by the family or an individual. The nutrition composition is calculated using tables of nutritive value of common foods. These tables are given in the ICMR publication: Nutritive Value of Indian Foods.
There are various methods of dietary survey. Each is suitable for a different set of circumstances.
It is one of the easiest and most popular methods for conducting a dietary survey. Studies have revealed that if properly conducted, the 24-hour recall method reveals reliable information regarding the food intake amount and quality.
