What it takes to get it right: A qualitative study exploring optimal handover of health programmes in Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone

Figures & data

Table 1. Social demographic information of study participants enrolled in in-depth interviews or focus group discussions.

Study participants
	Mile 91	Magburaka	Freetown	Amsterdam	Type of interview	Male	Female	Total participants
MoH policymakers			8		IDI	7	1	8
Community leaders	6	6			IDI	11	1	12
Community members	2	2			FGD	24	24	48
MoH staff	4	6			IDI	4	6	10
MSF staff		1	2	2	IDI	4	1	5

Abbreviations: IDI: In-Depth Interviews; FGD: Focus Group Discussion; FGD: 12 participants per group; MoH: Ministry of Health; MSF: Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Table 2. Study recommendations and feasibility requirements.

	Recommendations from the study	Feasibility requirements on the recommendations
1	Early engagement of relevant stakeholders involved in the handover	Actor mapping of relevant stakeholder before the handover process start
2	Further exploration by Ministry of Health (MoH) on the impact of free health care initiatives after taking over services	Allow space and time for MoH to transition from the partner taking over
3	Post-handover programme evaluation should be standardised	Dedicated budget for post-handover evaluations
4	Agreements with authorities should include handover strategies	Standard templates such as a memorandum of understanding which binds partnership with MoH should have a clause on handovers
5	Handover should be an organisational commitment from the start of the programme	Take into account the standards prescribed in-country for a similar programme being scaled up
6	Staff training should include patient-staff interaction as part of skill transfer	The training budget should be a standard package of the handover process with special attention on the topic of staff-patient interaction
7	Maintain integrity and transparency when it comes to asset handover	Standardise inventory and share the asset list with all relevant stakeholders involved in the handover

Note: The recommendations from the qualitative study cover essential aspects from programme initiation, during the handover and after the handover. The feasibility requirements would facilitate a positive process during the handover and positive outcomes after the handover.

Figure 1. Visualisation of the handover process as an MSF programme objective.

Figure 2. Important stakeholders in the handover process identified by study participants.

Figure 3. Key activities identified by the study participants to support a successful handover.