Quality improvement in the developing world

Abstract
A Quality Improvement (QI) team in a small clinic assessed children’s compliance with a standard treatment plan for a common infectious disease. Compliance was poor. Studying why, the staff discovered that the bad taste of the medicine was a principal problem. Working with mothers, the QI team identified popular foods that could be used to conceal the taste, and they placed in the waiting area a poster showing how to use the foods to do it. In the next test cycle, compliance with the treatment protocol had risen from 48% to 70%.