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Table 5 Recommendations for documenting and publishing data on newborn referral completion

From: A systematic review of community-to-facility neonatal referral completion rates in Africa and Asia

Referral characteristics

Referral for what danger signs

Referral by whom

competencies of that health cadre

training received by that health cadre for danger sign detection

workload of that health cadre

Referral to what level of care

primary care facility, tertiary facility, etc.

estimated distance or travel time

whether care is provided for free or with fees

Was it facilitated and if so, how

include details (e.g. image of referral slips, content of behavioral change communication materials, etc.)

Quantification of referral completion

Time to first home visit of the referring individual following birth of child

time between family mobilization and receiving care

Actual frequency and timing of home visits, in addition to the scheduled/expected frequency and timing

Time between referral and family mobilization for careseeking

Referral completion rate

definition of what qualifies as “complete” = defining the numerator and denominator of the rate clearly, e.g. including what the time cut-off is for seeking care following referral

stratified by any contextually important variables

   e.g. sex of child, socioeconomic and demographic background of family or mother (religion, ethnicity, education, etc.)

Self-referral rate

definition

stratified by any contextually important variables