Healthy phoning: Papua New Guinea's first ever health call centre.

Journal: Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists

Volume: 23

Issue: 6 Suppl

Year of Publication: 2016

Affiliated Institutions:  Researcher, Economic and Public Sector Program, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Visiting Fellow, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia ahawatson@hotmail.com. Manager, Policy, Planning and Monitoring, Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority, Papua New Guinea.

Abstract summary 

The paper reports on the establishment of Papua New Guinea's first ever health call centre.Details of the phone calls received during the first nine weeks of the call centre's operation are presented.The data on phone call rates and types indicate a slight increase in utilisation of the service over the initial period. A total of 113 health-related phone calls were received during the first nine weeks of the call centre's operation. Most of these calls were from the public, while a small number were from rural health workers. Prank calls and calls enquiring about the service were also received. During establishment, mental health was not considered and calls that may fall into this category have not been logged separately.Further analysis would need to be undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the health call centre model in the Papua New Guinea context. Scripts, protocols and analysis regarding mental health may need to be developed.

Authors & Co-authors:  Watson Amanda H A AH Poima Regina R

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations : 
Authors :  2
Identifiers
Doi : 10.1177/1039856215609770
SSN : 1440-1665
Study Population
Female
Mesh Terms
Female
Other Terms
Papua New Guinea;developing country;phone;tele-health;tele-medicine
Study Design
Study Approach
Country of Study
Guinea
Publication Country
England