Testing a GBV Quality Assurance tool

Field Testing a Quality Assurance Tool for Assessing the Quality of Post Gender-Based Violence Care Services in Clinical Settings in South Africa

Overview

High quality post gender-based violence (GBV) care is a priority for the South African government, including the Department of Health, Department of Social Development, the South African Police Service, and the National Prosecuting Authority. Quality assurance (QA) is an important component of realizing this priority. An existing QA tool for GBV care was developed in Mozambique by Jhpiego in collaboration with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WHO, and PEPFAR partners to provide facility-based information on the availability, accessibility, and quality of GBV services. This tool was adapted for use in South Africa through (1) updating the tool to address current best practices and South Africa’s unique social, demographic, logistical, and legal contexts, and (2) ensuring that the tool adequately addresses the needs of Key Populations with increased vulnerability to GBV, including LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex) people, sex workers, and people with disabilities.

The project achieved this through four steps:

Conducting a Scoping Review mapping the existing evidence on availability, accessibility, and quality of GBV services in South Africa and applicable standards of care via a desk-based scoping review.
Completing a Service Availability Mapping (SAM) exercise mapping all available GBV services in the PEPFAR SA priority districts Ekurhuleni (Gauteng Province) and uMgungundlovu (KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province)
Adapting the GBV QA Tool for South Africa through an iterative process of consultation with experts representing service providers and Key Populations
Field-testing GBV QA Tool to gather information on the practical usage of the tool and inform a final adaptation of the GBV-QA tool for the South African context

Benefits

The study produced a version of the GBV QA tool optimized for use in South Africa as well as a complementary Disability Awareness Checklist (DAC). This provide the South African Department of Health, Department of Social Development, aligned non-governmental organizations (NGOs), CDC/PEPFAR, and other interested sponsors and stakeholders with a resource for external quality assurance (EQA) in delivery of post-GBV care, as well as a tool that service providers themselves can use for internal QA and improvement of service delivery. The project produced updated post-violence care service referral directories for two focus districts, as well as a protocol for keeping the directory up to date.

Additionally, the project produced the Disability Awareness Checklist (Hanass-Hancock, Willan, Carpenter, Tesfay, & Dunkle, 2023a, 2023b) which can be downloaded here after its launch on the 25th of May in Stellenbosch South Africa;

In its next steps the project will develop a number of resource materials both in form of training and support material to increase quality of GBV services and accessibility of these services.

Publications

Resources

Hanass-Hancock, J., Willan, S., Carpenter, B., Tesfay, N., & Dunkle, K. (2023a). Disability awareness checklist. Facilitator guide. In. Durban: South African Medical Research Council.
Hanass-Hancock, J., Willan, S., Carpenter, B., Tesfay, N., & Dunkle, K. (2023b). Disability awareness checklist for health care services. In. Durban: South African Medical Research Council.
Hanass-Hancock, J., Willan, S., Carpenter, B., Tesfay, N., & Dunkle, K. (2023b). Disability awareness checklist for health care services for Jaws or Braille. In. Durban: South African Medical Research Council.

Investigators: Kristin Dunkle, Jill Hanass-Hancock, Samantha Willan and Naeemah Abrahams