Grant: Operating Grant

Information systems are only as useful as their application in specific contexts, regardless of how well they can perform in ideal circumstances. Building on experience in British Columbia, our Canadian-South African team has developed a state-of-the-art information system (OHASIS) to support making the health care sector a healthier place to work - in a setting (southern Africa) where risks such as HIV and TB are being experienced at the same time that migration of health workers to wealthy countries like Canada has grown. This project evaluates how such a system can best be introduced to contribute to improving health - an issue that has attracted surprisingly little attention despite the widespread feeling that such innovations have failed to produce the benefits they had promised. We wish to distinguish whether those directly involved see such an information system as a valuable tool, as a weapon in service of other objectives, or as a "white elephant", costing the healthcare system more than it is worth. To answer this question, we will monitor how the information system is actually used, as well as conduct focus groups, in depth interviews, surveys and workplace audits to observe actual practices and outcomes, comparing and contrasting perceptions of different stakeholders groups. This study will be conducted at Pelonomi Hospital in Free State, South Africa, a regional hospital with a workforce of 2000 and a comparison facility. We base our research in South Africa, but findings will be applicable to the use of such information systems worldwide - and interest in wider uses of the specific system we will be studying has already been expressed internationally. In addition to providing a way to learn lessons that can be shared in health care sector workplaces in Canada, the project provides a way for Canada to contribute to improving a health care setting that has been weakened by Canadian recruitment of health professionals.