Ghana

This paper examines the job attributes that influence the stated preferences of fourth year medical students in Ghana for rural deprived area postings. [adapted from author]

In Ghana, faith-based organisations play an essential role in providing health care services, especially in rural areas. For a variety of reasons, it can be difficult to retain health care workers, putting essential services under threat. The National Catholic Health Service carried out some vital research to find out how to address the problem. [from author]

Gaps in the midwifery tutors’ knowledge on comprehensive abortion care (CAC) have resulted in most midwives in Ghana not knowing the legal indications under which safe abortion care can be provided, and lacking the skills and competencies for CAC services. The aim of this study is to assess the capacity and willingness of midwifery tutors to teach contraception, post abortion care and legal termination in Ghana. [from abstract]

The focus of this study is to assess the level of migration expectation among health care professionals and to determine some of the factors which have pushed - and are likely to continue to push - them to seek employment outside Ghana. [from introduction]

This article uses the realist evaluation method to determine the effect of human resource management on hospital performance using a regional facility in Ghana.

The objective of this study was to assess the skills of community health volunteers in diagnosing active trachoma, the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness, and distributing azithromycin treatment in the Northern Region of Ghana. [adapted from author]

This report outlines a rapid descriptive assessment to gain an initial understanding of the management workforce for service delivery in Ethipia, Ghana and Tanzania and to test selected criteria for assessing managers as part of the health workforce. [adapted from summary]

This presentation from the 2004 Seminar on Health and Migration details the effects of the international migration of Ghanian healthcare workers and the impact the Diaspora could have on the problem.

District health systems in Africa depend largely on public funding. In many countries, not only are these funds insufficient, but they are also released in an untimely fashion, thereby creating serious cash flow problems for district health managers. This paper examines how the untimely release of public sector health funds in Ghana affects district health activities and the way district managers cope with the situation. [from abstract]

This presentation provides the results of studies designed to ascertain which Ghanaian trainee health professionals are more likely to emigrate, as well as the rationale for these choices. It also attempts to identify potential areas for policy intervention in order to moderate the benefits and costs of both the long-term and short-term impact of this situation.

This presentation chronicles the emigration patterns of Ghanaian health professionals and the effects on that country's own health services. There is a specific focus on the emigration expectations of Ghanaian trainee health personnel, as well as offering suggestions for potential methods for addressing the situation.

This presentation offers the findings of a study assessing how policies in richer countries impact least-developed countries, specifically regarding skilled labour migration.

The paper seeks to analyze the import of distance education for promotion of proficiency skills in the health sector and review ongoing professional development programmes for health workers in Ghana, and come out with strategies to offer training avenues leading to the professional growth of the individuals and economic growth of the country. [from abstract]

This document details the specific hiring criteria for allied health staff as established by the Health Services division of the Ghana Ministry of Health. Primary areas of interest to HRH facilitators include positions in the fields of optometry, dentistry, oral health and laboratory staff.

This document details the specific hiring criteria for allied health staff as established by the Health Services division of the Ghana Ministry of Health. Primary areas of interest to HRH facilitators include positions in the fields of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and disease control.

This document details the specific hiring criteria for administrative and support staff as established by the Health Services division of the Ghana Ministry of Health.

This document details the specific hiring criteria for directors as established by the Health Services division of the Ghana Ministry of Health.

This document details the specific hiring criteria for clinical, nursing & midwifery and pharmacy staff as established by the Health Services division of the Ghana Ministry of Health.

This document details the specific hiring criteria for blood donor organizers as established by the Health Services division of the Ghana Ministry of Health.

This report concludes that assigning nurses to community locations where they provide basic curative and preventive care substantially reduces childhood mortality and accelerates progress towards attainment of the child survival MDG. The research in Navrongo demonstrates that affordable and sustainable means of combining nurse services with volunteer action can accelerate attainment of both the International Conference on Population and Development agenda and the MDGs. [from summary]

A community health planning and service strategy was started in Ashanti region in 2001 with the intention of improving geographic access to comprehensive health care. The region used community-based surveillance as an entry point. The implementation process and health outcomes were tracked and evaluated after a year. [from summary]

Ghana addresses its serious health workforce shortage and consequent issues with health service delivery through a new human resources strategic plan developed to guide scale-up from 2007 to 2011. [from abstract]

This document evaluates the expected change in the reproductive preferences of women due to the presence of volunteers and community health workers providing health service delivery in the communities through the Community Health and Family Planning project. In the communities where there is intervention, women seem to show that their fertility preferences are generally shifting towards small family sizes although the fertility levels are still high. [adapted from author]

This report calls for a rapid and significant scaling up of the education and training of health workers as part of a broader effort to strengthen health systems. It highlights the importance of training to meet a country’s own health needs and the great opportunity represented by the increased use of community- and mid-level workers. [from foreword]

There are also case studies from Ghana, Malawi, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Bangladesh on strategic implementation of health worker training plans.

This report documents the assessment of a family planning training program for providers to enable them to offer family planning counseling and methods, and make referrals where needed as part of antiretroviral therapy services in Ghana. [from summary]

The original purpose of the ADHA scheme was to compensate doctors for hours worked beyond the standard 40 hours per week or 160 hours per month. This study investigated how the scheme impacted a number of human resources (HR) factors associated with health worker recruitment, deployment, retention and performance - specifically, how the significantly higher income levels resulting from the ADHA scheme influenced job satisfaction, motivation, workplace climate and the relationship between clinical and administrative staff, as well as productivity. The study provides a detailed chronology of the ADHA scheme and explores lessons learned from the way in which the GOG implemented and administered the scheme.

This presentation was given at the First Forum on Human Resources for Health in Kampala. It outlines the micro-economics of health worker behaviour and discusses a study done to evaluate migration in Ghana.

This is an exploratory descriptive study that examined migration of locally trained doctors from Ghana using graduates of the country’s first medical school as a proxy. The objectives of the study were to describe trends in the loss of medical personnel to emigration and the influence this has on human resources planning, including forecasting of staff supply and requirements. It was also to provide some information towards the development of strategies to counteract such losses. [from abstract]

West African-trained physicians have been migrating from the sub-continent to rich countries, primarily the US and the UK, since medical education began in Nigeria and Ghana in the 1960s. In 2003, we visited six medical schools in West Africa to investigate the magnitude, causes and consequences of the migration. We conducted interviews and focus groups with faculty, administrators (deans and provosts), students and post-graduate residents in six medical schools in Ghana and Nigeria. In addition to the migration push and pull factors documented in previous literature, we learned that there is now a well-developed culture of medical migration.

This report presents the child mortality impact of a trial of primary healthcare service delivery strategies in rural Ghana. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, underfive mortality in areas with village-based community-nurse services fell by 16 percent during the five years of program implementation compared with mortality before the intervention. [from abstract]