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Recent analysis by the SHOPS project shows that the private health sector could help country governments sustain national HIV responses. SHOPS used national health accounts data to track how HIV funds flow through the health systems in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, and Namibia, and identified ways that donors and the government can better work with the private health sector. [from introduction]

Training health care providers and medical college faculty about the supportive nature of Islam toward
family planning principles addressed their misconceptions and enhanced their level of comfort in providing
family planning services and teaching the subject. [from synopsis]

Health care is labor intensive and managers strive to identify a mix of staff that can safely deliver a range of services using available resources. In many developing countries,primary-level workers, auxiliary staff, and community health workers (CHWs) are being trained to assume roles and perform functions traditionally reserved for mid- or high-level cadres of health workers as a means of optimizing the number and capacity of available providers.

This report documents the efforts and contributions made by USAID through the Innovations in Family Planning Services (IFPS) Project towards capacity building and strengthening of public and private institutions in the health sector
in India. The report highlights the support rendered at the national level and in three Indian states: Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand. [from introduction]

Local health planners are in a prime position to devise feasible context-specific activities to overcome
constraints and increase met need for family planning to accelerate progress towards MDG 5. [from abstract]

The official report for the 9th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education & Training, which took place from May 28 to 30, 2014 in Kampala, Uganda. [adapted from publisher]

The study was conducted to better understand the roles and functions of the health workforce responsible for managing patient transitions to and from hospitals and nursing homes in New York’s downstate region to reduce the number of readmissions and to improve care transitions. [adapted from introduction]

This paper explores how e-learning is situated in the drive towards realization of MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] in the African continent.

The Nursing Education Partnership Initiative (NEPI) was established in 2011 by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in response to key capacity-building challenges facing preservice nursing and midwifery education in Sub-Saharan Africa. NEPI has formed partnerships with governments and key stakeholders in Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, and Zambia and supports 19 nursing and midwifery education institutions and 1 nursing council.

This paper examines the various models, challenges, and evaluative efforts of community-based education (CBE) programs at Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) schools and makes recommendations to strengthen those programs in the African context. [from abstract]

From 1990 to 2011, contraceptive use in Ethiopia increased nine fold and the total fertility rate fell from 7.0 to 4.8. What are the main elements of this success? We posit that the four most significant factors are: political will, generous donor support, non-governmental and public–private partnerships, and the government’s establishment of a network of health extension workers. In this study, we look at these factors and how their interaction increased the proportion of women having both the desire to use and ability to access contraceptives. [adapted from abstract]

The Ugandan Government has an ambitious goal to reduce unmet need for family planning (FP) from its current 34% to 10% over the next 10 years. This brief shares experiences and lessons from capacity building for Family Planning at the national and district levels in Uganda.[adapted from introduction]

Family planning (FP) services have been available in Nepal for over 50 years, most extensively from the public sector health system, with nongovernmental agencies involved from the very beginning. These services are largely delivered by
facility-based service providers, except for the distribution of condoms and pills and, occasionally,
injectables. Community workers such as VHWs and MCHWs could potentially fill the gap if they were given the necessary knowledge and skills. [adapted from resource]

Knowledge of the relation between health-system factors and child mortality could help to inform health policy in low-income and middle-income countries. We aimed to quantify modifiable health-system factors and their relation with provincial-level heterogeneity in under-5, infant, and neonatal mortality over time in Mozambique. [from abstract]

With this aim, the study looks at the development of policies on human resources for health (HRH) in Sierra Leone over the decade after the conflict (2002–2012). [from abstract]

Quality of care is at the heart of any health care program, and yet it is defined in different ways and is difficult to measure. It is determined not only by the capabilities of health facilities and health providers but also by many other variables. Even among formal research studies, the variables measured differ from study to study. [from introduction]

This research tried to reveal the current situation and to track the future trends of the rural health workforce. By
stratified multistage cluster sampling processes, the baseline data of nationwide longitudinal survey were gathered
from China.

Children from traditionally underserved and marginalized communities have more health problems and less accessible, effective health care delivery than children generally. When children from underserved communities also have special health care needs, the problems they face are further compounded. The engagement of community health workers (CHWs) has emerged as a very promising strategy for addressing the persistent disparities in the delivery of health care and related service to Children with Special Health Care Needs. [from introduction]

In Taiwan, volunteers make a significant contribution to the health workforce. In this paper, we explain the volunteer’s role and describe both the benefits and barriers associated with volunteering as a health worker in Taiwan. We also outline the crucial function of volunteers in supporting community nursing work. [from abstract]

This study examines the delivery of health services by faith-based organizations (FBOs) as a possible alternative to privatization in Uganda, where these not-for-profit health providers have been servicing communities since the second half of the 19th century. Their facilities focus on primary care and operate in rural, under-serviced areas, charging affordable user fees, while also treating those who cannot pay. [from executive summary]

This study investigated factors influencing motivation and retention of HCWs at primary health care facilities in three different settings in Kenya - the remote area of Turkana, the relatively accessible region of Machakos, and the disadvantaged informal urban settlement of Kibera in Nairobi. [from abstract]

Volunteer community health workers (CHWs) are a key approach to improving community-based maternal and child health services in developing countries. A case–control study conducted in response to high dropout rates in the first year of the project showed that financial incentives, social prestige, community approval and household responsibilities were related to early retention in the project. In our present prospective cohort study, we aimed to better understand the factors associated with retention of volunteer CHWs once the project was more mature. [adapted from abstract]

The aim of this research was to evaluate if the training on the use of the “Protocol for the Nutritional Management of Obesity, Diabetes and Hypertension in the Caribbean” improves the quality of care delivered to patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Jamaica, Guyana, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname. [from abstract]

This report combines findings from a desk review,a mapping of [Close-to-Community] CTC providers and data collected during qualitative explorations carried out in two selected districts of Maputo Province as part of the context analysis. [from introduction]

Participation is a key policy concept in global health, and relates to the ability of stakeholders to engage with and shape health policy at four intersecting levels: Local, national, regional and global. Such engagement remains the key normative aim behind debates about furthering more equitable health diplomacy and has, as a result, been increasingly integrated into the agenda of global agencies, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the World Bank. [from executive summary]

This field guide aims to: Summarize the lessons learned during the first three years of
implementation of the Strategy and Plan of Action for the Elimination of
Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Congenital Syphilis. And provide health authorities, program managers, and other health personnel with practical guidance on updating or developing plans for accelerated implementation of the Regional Strategy and Plan of Action. [adapted from introduction]

The purpose of this paper was to critically review the various initiatives that the government of Kenya has over the years initiated
towards enhancement of universal coverage in terms of policy reforms including health care financing. [from abstract]

In efforts to improve the quality of FP (Family Planning) services in Tanzania, including provider skills, this study sought to identify gaps in pre-service FP teaching and suggest opportunities for strengthening the training. [from abstract]

Physician dual practice, a combination of public and private practice, has attracted attention due to fear of reduced work supply and a lack of key personnel in the public system, increase in low priority treatments, and conflicts of interest for physicians who may be competing for their own patients when working for private suppliers. In this article, we analyze both choice of dual practice among hospital physicians and the dual practices’ effect on work supply in public hospitals. [from abstract]

Health policies impact on nursing profession and health care. Nurses’ involvement in health policy development ensures that health care is safe, of a high quality, accessible and affordable. Numerous factors influence nurse leaders’ ability to be politically active in influencing health policy development. These factors can be facilitators or barriers to their participation. There is scant research evidence from Eastern African region that draws
attention to this topic. This paper reports part of the larger study. [from abstract]