Creating a Culture of Data Use in Tanzania: Assessing Health Providers’ Capacity to Analyze and Use Family Planning Data


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Author(s): Mackfallen G. Anasel, Idda L. Swai, Orest S. Masue

Year: 2019

Creating a Culture of Data Use in Tanzania: Assessing Health Providers’ Capacity to Analyze and Use Family Planning Data Abstract:

Tanzania has embarked on extensive health planning reforms that require all districts and selected health facilities to collect, process, analyze, and use data for informed decision making. To support these reforms, the Government of Tanzania, in collaboration with development partners, has invested heavily in strengthening its health management information system and connecting all local government authorities to DHIS 2, a web-based software for analyzing, reporting, and disseminating data for health programs. However, data quality issues continue to affect the planning process. The information used in priority setting for family planning (FP) and maternal and child health is incomplete or inaccurate, and staff capacity to analyze and set priorities is questionable.

The objectives of this study were to understand health providers’ capacity to analyze collected FP data and to document available evidence of health service providers using the collected data in their planning processes. The study employed a qualitative design to understand FP providers’ experiences with analyzing and using FP data for decision making.

Filed under: Data Quality , Qualitative Evaluation , Family Planning , Data use , Maternal health , Routine Health Information Systems , Routine data , Maternal and child health , DHIS 2