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This study aimed to explore the contextual and multilevel challenges to promoting exercise engagement among prostate cancer survivors in a low-resource setting, with a focus on integrating exercise-based rehabilitation into routine care and survivorship care planning, using a qualitative approach grounded in interpretative description. Sixteen prostate cancer survivors (aged 53-77 years) were purposively sampled from public and private healthcare facilities in Cape Town, South Africa. Semi-structured telephonic interviews were conducted using a topic guide informed by prior research. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed thematically. Four major themes were identified. Findings highlighted stark contrasts in exercise engagement between men treated in private versus public healthcare settings. Exercise was essential to private patients, whereas most public patients showed limited interest. Factors influencing engagement included knowledge gaps, treatment complications, fear of worsening symptoms, and age-related comorbidities. Socio-environmental barriers-such as neighbourhood safety and poor work-life balance-reduced exercise opportunities. Facility-level issues included inconsistent messaging from providers, lack of exercise oncology pathways, and absent referral systems. Our study identified key multilevel influences surrounding exercise promotion and integration in routine care for prostate cancer survivors receiving treatment in private and public healthcare settings. While highlighting the opportunities/challenges surrounding integrating exercise programs in routine management, our findings offer program planners valuable insights for planning and developing interventions in resource-constrained settings.

Purpose - To promote access to their services, health-care companies provide various communication channels to their customers (beneficiaries) to enable the receipt of requests, such as authorization for examinations, procedures and hospitalizations. Under the approach of innovation studies, the management of customer relationship channels for health-care companies is characterized as a knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS). The purpose of this study is presenting innovation as a strategy to increase customer service productivity, as well as the monitoring of the quality of the service, the generation of health information for beneficiaries and compliance with the regulation set by the Brazilian National Health Agency (ANS). Design/methodology/approach The study is characterized as an applied research, as it proposes solutions to problems faced by supplemental health-care companies using the strategy of action research, i.e. an independent, social research with an empirical basis. Findings The result of this study shows that a computerized health-care system can increase productivity by 21.96%, and it presents an innovative solution for health-care companies to guarantee the process of meeting the demands and requests of their beneficiaries, ensuring the compliance with ANS regulations. Practical implications These results can be replicated to other healthcare companies and contribute to those seeking innovation, increased productivity and quality improvements in their services. Originality/value This work was also motivated by the lack of lstudies in the areas of health-care companies in Brazil.

(1) Background: Brazil has a universal public healthcare system, but individuals can still opt to buy private health insurance and/or pay out-of-pocket for healthcare. Past research suggests that Brazilians make combined use of public and private services, possibly causing double costs. This study aims to describe this dual use and assess its relationship with socioeconomic status (SES). (2) Methods: We calculated survey-weighted population estimates and descriptive statistics, and built a survey-weighted logistic regression model to explore the effect of SES on dual use of healthcare, including demographic characteristics and other variables related to healthcare need and use as additional explanatory variables using data from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey. (3) Results: An estimated 39,039,016 (n = 46,914; 18.6%) persons sought care in the two weeks before the survey, of which 5,576,216 were dual users (n = 6484; 14.7%). Dual use happened both in the direction of public to private (n = 4628; 67.3%), and of private to public (n = 1855; 32.7%). Higher income had a significant effect on dual use (p < 0.0001), suggesting a dose–response relationship, even after controlling for confounders. Significant effects were also found for region (p < 0.0001) and usual source of care (USC) (p < 0.0001). (4) Conclusion: A large number of Brazilians are seeking care from a source different than their regular system. Higher SES, region, and USC are associated factors, possibly leading to more health inequity. Due to its high prevalence and important implications, more research is warranted to illuminate the main causes of dual use.

Background Obesity is increasingly prevalent and associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Bariatric surgery, particularly sleeve gastrectomy, provides durable weight loss and improves obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Despite its benefits, significant concerns regarding inequities in access to bariatric surgery persist. This study aims to evaluate recent trends in bariatric surgery rates and to investigate patterns of access to bariatric surgery. Methods A population-based study of age-adjusted bariatric procedure rates in adults in NSW, Australia, was conducted over the financial years 2013/14 to 2021/22. Trends in age-adjusted procedure rates were assessed by demographics and healthcare settings. Results In 2021/22, 179.6 bariatric procedures per 100,000 population were performed, an 89.7% increase since 2013/14 ( p  < 0.001). Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, the most common procedure, increased by 94.1% to 112.6/100,000/year ( p  < 0.001). Females had 3.6 times higher rates than males (232.3/100,000/year vs 64.9/100,000/year). The greatest increases occurred in younger patients (125.9% in the 18–24 age group; 142.4% in the 25–34 age group, p  < 0.001). Private hospital rates were 15.6 times higher than public (132.2/100,000/year vs 8.5/100,000/year) and rose 92.3% ( p  < 0.001), whilst public hospital rates declined by 17.9% (p = NS). Patients from regional areas had the highest rates (175.7/100,000/year) and largest increase (169.8%; 89.4/100,000/year to 241.8/100,000/year, p  < 0.001). Conclusions Bariatric surgery rates continue to increase, particularly among females, despite similar obesity prevalence between sexes. Most surgery is conducted in the private sector, suggesting differential access based on financial circumstances. Rates are highest in younger people, although obesity-related comorbidities increase with age. Regional patients undergo surgery at higher rates than rural patients despite greater obesity prevalence with increasing rurality. Efforts to address these disparities are essential to improve equitable access to obesity treatments.

Recent literature on healthcare quality demands more contextualized and patient-perspective research, as models from developed countries are not suitable for developing countries. Moreover, research on private healthcare services in Vietnam has long been underestimated by academia, but it has significant economic and commercial value. Hence, this study explores the dimensions of service quality in private healthcare and how they impact in-patient satisfaction, perceived value, and customer loyalty in Vietnam. This mixed-method study had a sample size of five inpatients for the qualitative phase and 368 inpatients for the quantitative phase from hospitals in Vietnam. The qualitative analysis explores service quality dimensions in private healthcare and incorporates them with the literature to develop a conceptual model. The quantitative phase tests the relationship between each construct in the conceptual model via structural equation modeling. The four dimensions of service quality were emotion, function, social influence, and trust. Most of these dimensions have a significant impact on customer perceived value and satisfaction. However, emotion does not significantly influence customer perceived value, and function does not considerably impact customer satisfaction. In addition, social influence is an underrepresented variable in the service quality literature, but it has the most substantial impact on customer perceived value and customer satisfaction. The quantitative results also confirm that customer satisfaction and customer perceived value significantly impact customer loyalty (word-of-mouth and revisit intention); however, customer perceived value does not significantly impact customer satisfaction. The study suggests that private healthcare providers and the government in Vietnam should allocate resources to improve service quality. Practitioners should invest in social branding and e-services to reach out to their customers. Future research should focus on a cost-benefit analysis and compare the effectiveness of service quality dimensions on customer behavioral intention.

Background Health facility deliveries are generally associated with improved maternal and child health outcomes. However, in Uganda, little is known about factors that influence use of health facilities for delivery especially in rural areas. In this study, we assessed the factors associated with health facility deliveries among mothers living within the catchment areas of major health facilities in Rukungiri and Kanungu districts, Uganda. Methods Cross-sectional data were collected from 894 randomly-sampled mothers within the catchment of two private hospitals in Rukungiri and Kanungu districts. Data were collected on the place of delivery for the most recent child, mothers’ sociodemographic and economic characteristics, and health facility water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) status. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) for the determinants of health facility deliveries as well as factors associated with private versus public utilization of health facilities for childbirth. Results The majority of mothers (90.2%, 806/894) delivered in health facilities. Non-facility deliveries were attributed to faster progression of labour (77.3%, 68/88), lack of transport (31.8%, 28/88), and high cost of hospital delivery (12.5%, 11/88). Being a business-woman [APR = 1.06, 95% CI (1.01–1.11)] and belonging to the highest wealth quintile [APR = 1.09, 95% CI (1.02–1.17)] favoured facility delivery while a higher parity of 3–4 [APR = 0.93, 95% CI (0.88–0.99)] was inversely associated with health facility delivery as compared to parity of 1–2. Factors associated with delivery in a private facility compared to a public facility included availability of highly skilled health workers [APR = 1.15, 95% CI (1.05–1.26)], perceived higher quality of WASH services [APR = 1.11, 95% CI (1.04–1.17)], cost of the delivery [APR = 0.85, 95% CI (0.78–0.92)], and availability of caesarean services [APR = 1.13, 95% CI (1.08–1.19)]. Conclusion Health facility delivery service utilization was high, and associated with engaging in business, belonging to wealthiest quintile and having higher parity. Factors associated with delivery in private facilities included health facility WASH status, cost of services, and availability of skilled workforce and caesarean services.

Background While border screening measures were widely adopted by countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, a lack of consensus on the utility of border screening created a gap in best practice for its implementation. As such, countries adopted a diversity of approaches, providing an opportunity to evaluate the configuration and evolution of border screening systems. The article addresses three questions: (i) how did countries configure their border screening systems for COVID-19? (ii) In what contexts did countries rely on public or private providers of these services? (iii) what do policies and narratives reveal about the perceived role of border screening in global public health? The article contributes to long-standing debates over the private sector’s role in public health and the perceived value of border screening measures. Methods This article presents results from an international comparative study based on tracking the organisation of border screening in eight countries. Secondary data was collected between July 2021 – June 2022 from official government websites and policy publications, private sector sources where relevant, and trusted media sources in each study country. The countries included are Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Results All study countries used private provision for pre-departure diagnostic testing for international travellers. In contrast, screening of arriving travellers was more diverse. Countries that opted for private sector post-arrival screening saw governance challenges around accreditation and monitoring of providers, while public service provision saw challenges in capacity and high resource costs. Travel was often framed as a ‘luxury,’ allowing states to shift responsibility for obtaining tests onto individuals; especially in the context of individuals travelling from low income to high income countries. Conclusions The different approaches countries followed for screening of departing and incoming travellers suggests wealthy countries were more oriented towards defending their populations against disease importation, rather protecting the international community from disease exportation. These findings provide an opportunity to reflect on the purpose and implementation of border screening. We emphasise a need for further discussion on the efficacy of border screening from both perspectives, given the tendency for countries to rely on these measures.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse how perceived service quality and customer satisfaction lead to loyalty towards healthcare service providers. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 475 hospital patients participated in a questionnaire survey in five Indian private hospitals. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, regression and correlation statistics were employed to analyse customer perceived service quality and how it leads to loyalty towards service providers. Finding – Results indicate that the service seeker-service provider relationship, quality of facilities and the interaction with supporting staff have a positive effect on customer perception. Practical implications – Findings help healthcare managers to formulate effective strategies to ensure a better quality of services to the customers. This study helps healthcare managers to build customer loyalty towards healthcare services, thereby attracting and gaining more customers. Originality/value – This paper will help healthcare managers and service providers to analyse customer perceptions and their loyalty towards Indian private healthcare services.

This article examines how sustainability is understood and enacted within South Africa’s private healthcare sector, focusing on which practices matter most and how they are integrated into organisational routines. Using an interpretivist design and abductive reflexive thematic analysis, the study sampled seventeen professionals from across the three major hospital groups to ensure sample heterogeneity. The analysis revealed that sustainability is shaped by the interaction of leadership commitment, coordinated governance, resource optimisation, and integrated performance feedback. These dynamics were synthesised into the Sustainability Integration and Performance Model (SIPM), illustrating how sustainability functions as a coherent organisational capability rather than a set of isolated initiatives. The findings provide insights into navigating institutional ambiguity and support the transferability of these results to comparable resource-intensive healthcare settings.