Latest Resources

Excitement is rapidly growing concerning the potential for community- based primary health care (CBPHC) to accelerate progress in reducing the tragedy of millions of children dying world-wide each year from readily preventable or treatable conditions. This report summarizes the current research findings concerning the effectiveness of CBPHC in improving the health of children in high-mortality, resource-poor settings. [from summary]

This technical brief describes effective or promising practices that leverage the private health care sector in developing countries, taking advantage of existing infrastructure, financial resources, and expertise to better integrate HIV services and reduce the burden on public health facilities. [from introduction]

This research examend HIV-related stigma in Nigeria focusing on how power differences based on gender perpetuate the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS and how these gender differences affect the care that they receive in health care institutions. [adapted from abstract]

Medical students have been attending rural clinical schools (RCSs) since 2001. Although there have been generally positive single institution reports, there has been no multi-institution study using a common survey instrument. The experiences of medical students who attended a number of RCSs during 2006 were evaluated using a rural-specific questionnaire. [from abstract]

This article presents an innovative approach to healthcare worker (HCW) training using mobile phones as a personal learning environment. Twenty physicians used individual Smartphones in urban and peri-urban HIV/AIDS clinics in Peru, where almost 70% of the nations HIV patients in need of treatment. [adapted from abstract]

This report is based on findings of a study that analysed the opinions and experiences of Australians who provided humanitarian relief following disasters, in complex emergencies and wars. The issue of human resources within the humanitarian sector is now unquestionably on the agenda, and the identification of important gaps in knowledge within this field is the central thrust for the study which investigated Australian disaster workers from a broad range of health-related fields. [adapted from author]

The aim of this document is to identify and document promising practices to plan, develop and support national human resources in HIV related strategic information/monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This document adds to recent global M&E system strengthening guidance by compiling examples of promising approaches from a wide range of countries, and is intended for use in the creation of country plans to strengthen the workforce to support a fully functional, national M&E system to ensure strategic information for HIV/AIDS programming. [adapted from summary]

With the overall aim of identifying community health worker (CHW) programs with positive impact on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to health or otherwise, this global systematic review was undertaken of such interventions, as well as eight in-depth country case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia Mozambique and Uganda), South East Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand) and Latin America (Brazil and Haiti).

Each chapter of this report presents a proposed tool that can be used by those involved in finding and using research evidence to support evidence-informed health policymaking. [from author]

Establishing a Public Private Partnership (PPP) requires a legal framework acceptable to all the partners, clarity on the commitment of resources, roles and responsibilities of each partner, as well as accountability to provide a given set of services at a desired level of quality and affordable user charges. This paper describes the design, development and implementation of a PPP for managing urban health services in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat. [adapted from abstract]

Pay-for-performance (P4P) is one of the primary tools used to support healthcare delivery reform. This paper summarizes evidence, obtained from studies published between January 1990 and July 2009, concerning P4P effects, as well as evidence on the impact of design choices, and contextual mediators on these effects. [from abstract]

This toolkit is your one-stop source for evidence-based knowledge and promising practices to support the successful integration of family planning (FP) and HIV services. It summarizes the latest evidence and provides links to guidelines and tools to help you plan, manage, deliver, evaluate, and support integrated services. [adapted from publisher]

Task shifting is one avenue for delivering needed health care in resource poor settings, and on-the-ground reports indicate that task shifting may be applicable in humanitarian responses to natural disasters and conflicts. This report evaluates the potential strengths and weaknesses of task shifting in humanitarian relief efforts, and proposes a range of strategies to constructively integrate task shifting into humanitarian response. [adapted from abstract]

Follow-up studies of former students are an efficient way to organize the entire process of professional training and curriculum evaluation. The aim of this study was to identify professional profile subgroups based on job-related variables in a sample of former students of a Brazilian public dental school. [from abstract]

Through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, this study explores the potential efficacy of non-financial incentives (NFI) proposed by the L10k project, an Ethiopian health extension project. The results of the study outline factors motivating voluntary community health workers, indicate other NFI mechanisms for consideration, and suggest programmatic recommendations. [adapated from publisher]

The objective of this research was to study prescribing practices of private practitioners in the treatment of tuberculosis, two decades after a similar study conducted in the same geographical area revealed dismal results. [from abstract]

The aim of the present study was to examine whether a 16-hour night-call schedule allowed for sufficient recovery in anaesthesiologists compared with other physician specialists handling less life-threatening conditions, when on call. [from abstract]

The objective of this literature review is to assess the effectiveness of community-based intervention packages of improved maternal care during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum, as well as care of the newborn, in preventing maternal morbidity and mortality and improving neonatal outcomes. [adapted from summary]

This research aimed at examining the effects of mentoring functions on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of new nurses in Taiwan’s hospitals.

A technical meeting on strengthening health workforce information systems was held on 10–12 March 2010 in Montreux, Switzerland. The aim of this meeting was to initiate discussion on how to promote a coordinated, harmonized and standardized approach to strengthening country health workforce information and monitoring systems to support policy, planning and research. [from summary]

This report summarizes a a rapid mapping of HRH resources in Pacific Island countries to generate baseline data on the current HRH situation in the region, information on in-country and external education institutions involved in HRH development, and data on external partners providing HRH-related assistance. [adapted from summary]

Hospital-based providers’ willingness to report to work during an influenza pandemic is a critical yet under-studied phenomenon. Witte’s Extended Parallel Process Model has been shown to be useful for understanding adaptive behavior of public health workers to an unknown risk, and thus offers a framework for examining scenario-specific willingness to respond among hospital staff. [from abstract]

The objective of this article is to compare the processes and outcomes of four pulic-private mix project on DOTS implementation for tuberculosis control in New Delhi, India; Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam; Nairobi, Keny; and Pune, India. [from abstract]

The period of birth is critical in the life of the mother and the baby. Ideally, it needs to be assisted in a competent manner by a skilled birth attendant (SBA) supported by an enabling environment. This goal has yet to be achieved in all countries. It is essential to upgrade the skills of existing SBAs in managing both the mother and baby, and to supply the necessary resources. Another key strategy is to implement suitable community-based interventions to achieve the required behaviors in family members, health workers, and volunteers to improve newborn health. [abstract]

Shortages of health workers are obstacles to utilising global health initiative (GHI) funds effectively in Africa. This paper reports and analyses two countries’ health workforce responses during a period of large increases in GHI funds. [from abstract]