Sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of preference for rural job characteristics among fourth year medical students in Ghana including salary, infrastructure, management style, and contract length in considering future jobs. [from author]

The research detailed in this paper aimed to understand which health system factors constrained the delivery of the Essential Health Package (EHP) in Malawi, namely two areas factors - human resources and drug supply. [adapted from author]

This report uses a human rights framework to examine accountability for maternal health care. It sets out several specific steps that South African and Eastern Cape governments should take to better integrate accountability into maternal health care programs and ensure their implementation through the health system. [from author]

The aim of this paper is to explore the challenges generated by HIV care and treatment and their impact on health worker motivation in Mbeya Region, Tanzania. [from abstract]

In an effort to facilitate the social service workforce to meet the needs of a larger population, a number of training models have been developed to equip local community members with basic social work skills and support them to work with vulnerable children and families under the supervision of social work professionals. This webinar presented several promising training models currently implemented in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. [from summary]

This article set out to examine the human resource policy implications of scaling up HIV testing and counselling in Kenya and to analyse the resultant policy against a recognised theoretical framework of health policy reform. [from abstract]

This report outlines a sustainable cascade training approach to train a subset of the doctors, nurses, and clinical officers who provide long-acting and permanent methods (LA/PM) to serve as district-level LA/PM trainers. These trainers trained other doctors, nurses, and clinical officers in their districts to offer LA/PMs.

By investigating the community-owned resource persons - their demographic characteristics, their reasons for participating in the an urban malaria control program (UMCP), and their work performance - this study outlines how communities can become responsible for malaria control. [adapted from author]

Traditional birth attendants have been a subject of discussion in the provision of maternal and newborn health care, especially in developing countries where there is a lack of infrastructure and trained health personnel. The objective of this study was to assess the role of trained traditional birth attendants in maternal and newborn health care in Afar Regional State. [from abstract]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability, validity and usefulness of the Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) framework and its associated data collection and analysis tools designed to assess, design, strengthen and evaluate routine health information systems. [adapted from abstract]

This article explores the nature and depth of managerial engagement of health facility committees at the facility level in two rural districts in Kenya, and how this has contributed to community accountability. [from abstract]

The aims of this policy include: ensuring the appointment of competent and skilled hospital managers; providing for the development of management accountability frameworks; and ensuring the training of managers in leadership, management and governance. [adapated from author]

This HRH Strategy provides a distillation of the ideas arising from a review of HRH in South Africa themes based on evidence, followed by recommended strategic priorities and interventions, and forecast modeling of the future requirement of the health professions. [adapted from summary]

This article describes a community intervention conducted aimed at improving early malaria case management in under five children. Health workers were trained to train community-based women groups in recognizing malaria symptoms, providing first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria and referring severe cases. [adapted from abstract]

The objective of this study was to assess whether the development and implementation of a community health worker project in rural Kenya was associated with an increase in knowledge about malaria and the use of insecticide-treated nets in children under five years of age. [from abstract]

This article outlines a study designed to measure knowledge changes among healthcare workers who participated in a tuberculosis training programme and to make recommendations about future tuberculosis training for healthcare workers in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health. [adapted from abstract]

This paper presents results of an empirical study conducted in Liberia and Vietnam using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) which aimed to predict the likelihood of health workers taking up a rural area job under alternative incentive schemes.

This article outlines a project to research the number and needs of specialists and subspecialists within South Africa. [adapted from author]

The overall aim of the plan is to increase the number of appropriately skilled, motivated and equitably distributed health service providers for Rwanda. The main strategic objectives of the plan are: a coordinated approach to planning across the sector based on the best available data; increased number of trained and equitably distributed staff; improved productivity and performance of health workers; and strengthened human resource planning, management and development systems at all levels. [from summary]

The guidelines were conceived to help envision, plan, design, implement, evaluate and scale up initiatives that involve collaborating with traditional healers for HIV prevention and care in sub-Saharan Africa. The ultimate goal of this effort is to improve access to, and quality of, health services for the clients of both systems. [from author]

This paper presents a summary of a regional program on incentives for health worker retention. The studies sought to investigate the causes of migration of health professionals, the strategies used to retain health professionals, how they are being implemented, monitored and evaluated, as well as their impact, to make recommendations to enhance the monitoring, evaluation and management of non-financial incentives for health worker retention. [from summary]

This HRH profile: provides a comprehensive picture of the health workforce situation in Ghana; presents the HRH policies and management situation to help in monitoring the HRH stock and trends; provides basis for communication with and between policy-makers and stakeholders; strengthens the HRH information system by establishing evidence for baselines and trends; and facilitates information sharing and cross-country comparisons. [from author]

The aim of this paper is to propose a scientific estimation of Sudan’s need for doctors in strategic terms by: projecting estimated figures to reach the average standards of doctor-population ratios in the region; projecting annual graduation and postgraduate training rates; proposing estimates of the number of doctors the state economy can support; suggesting meastures to optimize distribution in different speacialties and geographic zones and to manage migration. [adapted from author]

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that two training programs for midwives in Zambia would reduce incrementally 7-day neonatal mortality rates for low-risk institutional deliveries. [adapted from abstract]

This review explores the implications of expansion of the private for profit
health sector for equitable health systems in East and Southern Africa, explores whether there are signs of increasing for-profit private sector activity in the region, and identifies issues of concern on private for profit activity in the health sector. [adapted from summary]

The Ministry of Health, in partnership with CapacityPlus, conducted a discrete choice experiment survey among current students in health training programs as well as health workers practicing in rural districts to investigate preferences for potential attraction and retention strategies. The results constitute an important input to the policy-making process related to the identification, costing, and selection of possible retention interventions for implementation. [from publisher]

Kabelo Bitsang, iHRIS administrator at the Botswana Ministry of Health, explains how the Ministry is using CapacityPlus’s free, open source software to track and manage the country’s health workforce. [from publisher]

This article discusses the Health Extension Program, an innovative community-based health program in Ethiopia. It is based on the assumption that access to and quality of primary health care in rural communities can be improved through transfer of health knowledge and skills to households.

In South Africa, limited human resources are a major constraint to achieving universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage. Decentralization or “down-referral” (wherein ART patients deemed stable on therapy are referred to their closest Primary Health Clinics (PHCs) for treatment follow-up) is being used as a possible alternative of ART delivery care. This cross-sectional qualitative study investigates attitudes towards down-referral of ART delivery care among patients currently receiving care in a centralized tertiary HIV clinic. [from abstract]

A task analysis survey of health workers in Liberia was conducted to determine how often recently graduated health workers perform tasks from the basic package of health services, and whether training was received for these tasks either in school or on the job. This paper focuses on nurse and midwife cadres and describe the: implementation of the study in Liberia; key findings and analysis of select clinical tasks; and recommendations for improving and integrating educational programs. [adapted from abstract]