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Using Continuous Quality Improvement in Community-based Programming During Disasters: Lessons Learned from the 2015 Ebola Crisis in Sierra Leone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2024

Cora Nally Open the ORCID record for Cora Nally [Opens in a new window] ,
Marleen Temmerman ,
Patrick Van de Voorde ,
Adama Koroma  and
Mary Adam
Cora Nally*
Affiliation:
Medicine and Health Science, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
Marleen Temmerman
Affiliation:
Medicine and Health Science, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
Patrick Van de Voorde
Affiliation:
Medicine and Health Science, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
Adama Koroma
Affiliation:
Public Health Consultant, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Mary Adam
Affiliation:
Kijabe Hospital, Kijabe, Kenya
*
Corresponding author: Cora Nally; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper describes the CQI (Continuous Quality Improvement) process of collecting and analyzing field level qualitative data in an ongoing cycle. This data can be used to guide decision-making for effective emergency response. When medical and community components are integrated from the earliest stages of the disaster, it allows for true collaboration and supports the CQI process to be responsive to evolving data. Our CQI process identified and addressed gaps in communication and coordination, problems with strategy implementation and, on a conceptual level, gaps in the disaster response model. The 2015 Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone provided a case study demonstrating improved effectiveness when a CQI approach is implemented in the Humanitarian Setting, equally in terms of reducing disease spread, and in meeting the broader needs of the population served.

Keywords

emergency respondersEbolacommunity health workerscontinuous quality improvementfeedback loops
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e316
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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