Sub-Saharan Africa

PCT aims to improve adherence to tuberculosis treatment by giving patients the choice of having drug intake supervised at the health facility by a medical professional or at home by a supporter of their choice. This study assessed whether key elements of the PCT approach were being implemented, evaluated supporters’ knowledge, captured opinions on factors contributing to treatment completion, and assessed how treatment completion was measured. [from abstract]

The concurrent tuberculosis (TB) and HIV epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa place all healthcare workers at increased risk of exposure to TB. This study explores personal experiences, attitudes and perceptions of medical doctors following treatment for TB within the healthcare system. [from abstract]

The report provides available data on the health workforce in PALOP. Its purpose is to support the responsible staff and partners to identify the needs for intervention, in order to improve the national and regional capacity for the development of human resources for health. [from summary]

Using qualitative interviews, the authors aimed to explore factors motivating mental health workers in order to inform interventions to increase recruitment and retention. [from abstract]

This article evaluated the prevalence and associated factors of burnout among nurses in a Nigerian general hospital. [from abstract]

This research evaluated the graduating students’ perceptions of transformed curriculum called the Graduate Entry Medical Programme in South Africa. [adapted from abstract]

The objective of this study was to determine the type and number of different types of health care providers, and the quality, cost and utilization of care delivered by those providers in rural Uganda. [from abstract]

The Haut-Katanga pilot program and impact evaluation described in this paper is intended to provide rigorous evidence, using a randomized intervention design, of the effects of a performance-based financing strategy in the difficult conditions of rural DRC by analyzing the effects of the strategy on production of health services (quantity and quality), management of the facility and behavior of health staff, and behavior of households.­ [from author]

This study examines the effect of performance incentives for health care providers to provide more and higher quality care in Rwanda on child health outcomes. [from abstract]

This document outlines the development and scale up of a health management information system in Ethiopia as a core information component of effective health care delivery whose aim is to improve management and optimum use of resources for making timely decisions. [adapted from author]

This case study share lessons learned and recommendations related Ethiopia’s scaling up the preservice education of health-care workers in order to solve the critical shortage of staff in health-care facilities, and ultimately to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. [adapted from summary]

This study investigated inter-relationships between emotional intelligence (EI), work stress and burnout in a group of nurses in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. The moderating effect of EI in the stress–burnout relationship and group differences (nurses working in different wards) in burnout were also investigated. [from abstract]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of the family members of migrant nurses from the Maseru district of Lesotho about the costs and benefits of nurse migration. [from abstract]

This study attempted to identify factors that would influence registered nurses’ decisions to stay with their current employers in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. [from abstract]

The study was carried out to determine the knowledge, perception, and practice of malaria monitoring and evaluation among selected health staff, and to identify related socio-demographic factors, including cadre of staff. [from abstract]

This advocacy document details the contributions of African Christian Health Associations in addressing health worker shortage including: developing and implementing sound HRH management policies, investing in human resources information systems, addressing health worker attraction and retention, and monitoring & evaluating progress and results of faith based-organizations’ HRH intiatives. [adapted from author]

This study aimed to determine the general managerial and public health competencies that are essential for primary health care clinic managers in South Africa. [from author]

The objectives of this research were to describe women’s health-seeking behaviour and experiences regarding their use of antenatal and postnatal care; their rationale behind the choice of place and delivery; and to learn about the use of traditional practices and resources applied by traditional birth attendants and how they can be linked to the bio-medical health system. [from abstract]

This article describes the development of a new mid-level medical worker in South Africa including the way in which scopes of practice and course design were negotiated and the progress during the early years. [adapted from abstract]

This review examined literature on the roles of mid-level managers to understand how they might influence service delivery quality in Kenyan hospitals. [adapted from abstract]

This report shares lessons learned from Uganda and, using this experience as a foundation, offers selected suggestions for how other countries might develop and implement HRH professional development programs at subnational levels. [from publisher]

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a referral system - where community health workers (CHW) were trained to refer babies with illnesses or identified danger signs - by describing CHW referral completion rates as well as mothers’ health-care seeking practices. [adapted from author]

This study assessed health worker motivation as part of the baseline assessment for a health system strengthening intervention in three rural districts in Zambia by examining underlying issues grouped around relevant outcome constructs such as job satisfaction, general motivation, burnout, organization commitment, conscientiousness and timeliness that collectively measure overall levels of motivation. [adapted from abstract]

This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods assessment of selected health systems supports for community-based health workers in a national community case management program for childhood illness in Malawi during the first year of implementation. [adapted from abstract]

This study identified the determinents for using a skilled birth attendant for delivery in order to give policy recommndations and identify barriers in Ethiopia.

The aim of this study was to discover the use of voluntary counseling and testing among health professionals in Ethiopia using the theory of planned behavior to determine which factors play a significant role in healthworker use. [adapted from author]

This paper creates awareness of the current human resource crisis that Zambia is facing, taking into account the few doctors serving rural communities in the country; and argues that the main driver of doctors’ exodus out of the country is the search for better conditions of service. The paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of various policy options geared toward stemming the tide of doctors leaving the country, primarily through creating greater incentives for doctors to stay. [from author]

Recent policy recommendations have called for increased research efforts to inform the design of cost-effective interventions to address the shortage of health workers in rural areas. This paper takes forward the recent use of discrete choice experiments to assess the effects of potential incentives to attract nurses to rural areas. [from abstract]

This aim of this report is to document the goals, contributions and achievements of the Directorate General of Human Resources for Health Development (DGHRD). The report is in three sections: an introduction to HRH with reference to its importance to the health system; annual plans, achievements and drawbacks of the institutes and sub-directorates in 2012; the DGHRD vision for 2013 and statement on the way forward. [adapted from author]

The authors discuss the overlooked but significant role of universities in collecting, managing, and using human resources data in Tanzania and in other countries struggling to build their health workforce. They present options for Tanzania which are of relevance to other countries developing information systems for human resources for health. [from publisher]