Browsing by Author "Patel, Haseena"

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    Improving access to chronic medicines through a last kilometre medicine delivery service in low-income communities: a case study from Cape Town, South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Patel, Haseena
    In South Africa, access to healthcare services remains a considerable challenge, especially for low-income communities where transportation obstacles and prolonged waiting periods at healthcare facilities hinder prompt medical treatment. This study assessed a last kilometre home medicine delivery service aimed at overcoming these barriers and enhancing healthcare accessibility for low-income communities. The fundamental objective of this research was to assess the effectiveness of the last kilometre delivery service by analysing its operational efficiency, stakeholder satisfaction, health outcomes, sustainability and scalability and also, to assess the hinderances to a successful operation of community-based medicine delivery services aimed at facilitating access to medicine and decongesting healthcare facilities. A qualitative approach was used which employed semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, comprising of an entrepreneur in a community-based medicine delivery company and healthcare workers that were purposefully selected and interviewed to obtain comprehensive insights into their experiences with the service. Thematic analysis was performed utilising Atlas.ti software to identify key themes and patterns within the collected data that provided comprehensive understanding on the effectiveness of the services and the perspectives of participants.