[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/who-malawi-sustains-gains-quality-care-... ]
The approach being applied in Malawi is less about continuous professional development than it is to empower frontline health workers to act on their data to introduce small changes to their processes and practices to improve patient outcomes. Sometimes referred to as continuous quality improvement, it requires enabling and showing health workers how to work in teams to address quality, supportive supervision/mentoring from motivated coaches, and ongoing review of key performance indicators at each level of the health system.
USAID, before it was destroyed, supported this kind of approach in countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia/Near East, with ample evidence for its effectiveness.
Lani Marquez, former USAID quality improvement contractor
HIFA profile: Lani Rice Marquez worked until June 2025 with the University Research Company and is based in USA. Interests: Quality improvement, knowledge management. Extensive experience with technical writing and editing and facilitation of webinars and peer-to-peer learning activities. lanimarq18 AT gmail.com