Planning

This report calls for provincial governments to take a closer look at the way they hire doctors, nurses and other health professionals from developing countries. Canada has always relied on newcomers to help deal with shortages in this field, but increasingly these professionals are coming from developing countries, especially from Africa and Asia, which have staffing shortages and critical health problems of their own.

The Royal College of Nursing commissioned this report into the employment policy and practice implications of the rapid growth in the number of internationally recruited nurses working in the UK. [from summary]

This paper addresses an important practical challenge to staff management. We use a case study based on semi-structured interview data to explore the steps that Namibia, a country facing severe health problems that include an alarmingly high AIDS infection rate, has taken to manage its health workers. [from abstract]

This resource paper uses a simple framework to provide an analytical review of human resources for health (HRH) strategic plans that have been generated over the last few years by countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are faced with an HRH crisis. The author collected and analyzed HRH strategic plans for the following countries: Eritrea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. The paper explores some of the key dynamics and steps in the evolution of these plans, including the plan development process and content, implementation bottlenecks and the frequency with which the plans are reviewed or evaluated.

This yearly profile is a summary of statistics about the nursing workforce in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, UK and USA.

This document highlights the potential advantages and perils of career moves and migration for nurses, describes some of the main nurse migration trends and establishes a list of critical questions as an ethical framework for nurse recruitment. [adapted from author]

The objective of this article was to compare the cost-effectiveness of the tuberculosis programm run by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, which uses community health workers (CHWs), with that of the government program which does not use CHWs. [adapted from author]

Home-based care (HBC) for HIV/AIDS is increasingly looked to as a more accessible and affordable alternative to more costly inpatient care, both for patients who are unable to travel to or pay for inpatient care as well as for governments that must fund inpatient facilities. Partners for Health Reformplus estimated the cost of HBC for HIV in Rwanda, based on a sample of eight programs offering care in early 2004. The sample comprised facility- and community-based programs. Both types of program implement the medical care recommended in the Ministry of Health guidelines for HBC. [from abstract]

There is a growing acknowledgment of the importance of the continuum of care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS outside of health facilities. Greater reliance on communities to provide care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS as well as non-complex maintenance and adherence support for treatment of those who are under antiretroviral treatment is seen as a way to alleviate the burden placed on traditional health systems in countries highly affected by HIV/AIDS. This report presents findings from the field-test of the Partners for Health Reformplus guidelines developed for costing home-based care (HBC) programs, with cases drawn from nine HBC programs in Uganda.

The HIPC/PRSP process is intended to be a major instrument for achieving improved service delivery for poor people Crucially, improved service delivery depends on having the right professional, technical and other human resources in the right place at the right time. This review examined for 6 African countries, the country based poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) documentation and the associated World Bank/IMF HIPC documentation for human resources for health content. These documents were supplemented with other relevant country documents such as health strategies.

This publication is an effort to respond to the different needs for capacity building in management and implementation of health programmes and delivery of essential services. It reflects the thinking acquired from experience working with health sector reforms being implemented in the African Region. The District Health Management Training modules cover the principles that are applicable across the Region and are meant to guide and strengthen the management capacity of district health management teams. [author’s description]

This report presents results from the Egypt Health Care Providers Surveys, the objectives of which were to: provide a comprehensive picture of all sources of health care services; provide policy relevant data on critical issues for health sector reform; and create a database on health care providers for use by the Ministry of Health and Population in developing policy reform proposals. Five separate surveys were conducted on health care institutions, private clinics, pharmacies, dayas (traditional birth attendants), and other practitioners. The sample of 10,048 providers was developed from a complete enumeration of all health care providers in sampling areas and data from the 1986 national census.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the cost implications of implementing the newly proposed Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses algorithm in first-level health care facilities in rural areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh policymakers need to know the cost of IMCI prior to its implementation so that they allocate adequate resources, particularly personnel and drugs, and the associated financial resources to health facilities. [from author]

The purpose of this technical effort by the Partnerships for Health Reform was to assess various issues, problems, and opportunities facing the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Zambia. This review serves to catalyze and provide input for the development of an effective strategic plan for the UTH and Zambia’s health services in general. Findings from this review provide a basis for recommendations on how to effectively address these issues in order to improve management and, ultimately, positively affect efficiency, quality, equity, and sustainability of services. [from abstract]

The Assessment Approach is designed to provide a rapid yet comprehensive assessment of key health systems functions and related resources. The approach is organized around technical modules which guide data collection, and cover the following areas: stewardship, health financing, service delivery, human resources, pharmaceuticals, and ealth information systems. [publisher’s description]

Nigeria has one of the largest stocks of human resources for health (HRH) in Africa. However, great disparities in health status and access to health care exist among the six geo-political zones, and between rural and urban areas. This assessment measures the size, skills mix, distribution, and growth rate of HRH in the public health sector in Nigeria. The assessment also quantifies the increase in HRH requirements in the public health sector necessary for reaching key PEPFAR targets and the health Millennium Development Goals. The findings are based on a survey conducted in April-May 2006 in 290 public health facilities representing all levels of care (primary, secondary, and tertiary).

This paper describes the application of activity-based costing (ABC) to calculate unit costs for a healthcare organization in a developing country. It also describes the ways in which these calcualtions can provide information for improving the efficiency and quality of healthcare services. [from abstract]

This paper focuses on nurses who have migrated and are registered/licensed/authorized to practice, post-adaptation/orientation, and are working as a nurse in a given country. The term international nurse is used for nurses who have been educated abroad and have either been recruited or have chosen to migrate.

The authors argue that health for all is not achievable in most countries without health sector reform that incorporates a process of coordinated health and human resources development. They examine the situation in countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization.

This report is from a workshop on HRD for mental health in Pacific island countries. The objectives of the workshop were to evaluate the mental health training needs and resources in the Pacific island countries; to achieve consensus on guiding principles in the developmenet of national mental health education and training programs in the local context; and to identify mechanisms to support countries in developing and strengthening mental health training programs. [from summary]

The purpose of the guidance package is to assist policy-makers and planners to: develop a policy and comprehensive strategy for improving the mental health of populations; use existing resources to achieve the greatest possible benefits; provide effective services to persons in need; and assist the reintegration of people with mental disorders into all aspects of community life, thus improving their overall quality of life.

The Family Planning Manager’s Handbook is a standard text in management training courses around the world and has received wide recognition as a practical guide for managers of health and family planning programs. [publisher’s description]

This book contains a series of case studies which depict the management issues a family planning organization faces in designing and implementing a new community-based distribution (CBD) program for contraceptives. The cases, which take place in a fictional country Momonboro, are based on an actual program initiated in an African country, and reflect the problems and successes which that program experienced.

In an effort to improve the health gain that might be achieved from allocated resources, a sector wide framework has been developed for planning, choosing priorities, and committing funds in accordance with agreed priorities. [from summary]

This presentation was part of a High-Level Forum on the Health Millennium Development Goals. Its core messages are: In the poorest countries, human resources are in crisis, yet absolutely critical for achieving the MDGs. Urgently needed is rapid mobilization of an effective workforce for priority national programs, triggering the longer-term building of sustainable capacity and systems. These country-based strategies must be multi-sectoral and engage key stakeholders. Actions should be started immediately to harness the power of human resources for the MDGs.

The 2009 edition of CHIPS comprises the country profiles and the health databanks for each country and area of the WHO Western Pacific Region. It contains crude data that are supplied either by the health ministries/departments or compiled from national databases and reference libraries. Estimates and adjusted data from various published sources are also used. Every effort is made to update the figures and analyses in CHIPS annually in response to ever-growing demands for current data and information. Clearance by the respective governments is also sought prior to publication.

The document aims to analyse the health system in Sudan, to identify the new challenges brought about by the new context, and on this basis to present a post-conflict strategic framework for the health sector. Chapter 3 presents an overview of the health sector. Available data on infrastructures and human resources indicate wide inequality across states in resource availability.

These reports review Rwanda’s healthcare staffing, documents practices and levels of effort in providing HIV/AIDS services, and calculates staffing needs for scale-up. It also discusses such issues as training, management, supervision, job satisfaction, and staff motivation and incentives. [publisher’s description]

This report presents findings from Phase 1 of an assessment of the human resources implications of HIV/AIDS services scale-up in Rwanda. Services covered include voluntary counseling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and care and treatment, including lab services and drug dispensing. It reports the number and types of staff employed at public and private healthcare sites, estimates the number providing HIV/AIDS services, and identifies employment practices that could facilitate or hinder the human resources scale-up.

This publication is a companion document to the Workforce Trends of Regulated Nurses in Canada series of publications. The Workforce Trends series organizes and presents data by nursing profession, with separate publications for each of the licensed practical nurse (LPN), registered nurse (RN) and registered psychiatric nurse (RPN) workforces. This publication, in contrast, organizes and presents data by province or territory.