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Kenya: Taking Forward Action on Human Resources for Health (HRH) with DFID/OGAC and Other Partners

In response to the critical HRH shortages in Africa, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Office of the US Global Aids Coordinator (OGAC) have been in discussion with a number of African countries to develop strategies and country level actions. The aim is to demonstrate the maximum flexibility of disease specific programmes to support broad based primary care in line with countries’ health plans. This report presents a summary of the main findings from the country visit to Kenya. [from introduction]

African Christian Health Associations: Joining Forces for Improving Human Resources for Health

This document details the efforts of the Christian Health Association to strengthen sub-Saharan Africa’s national health sectors by mitigating the the HR shortage. [adapted from executive summary]

Study on Workplace Violence within the Health Sector in Rwanda: Final Report

A study on workplace violence within the health sector in Rwanda was conducted in 2007 in order to determine the type, impact, context, consequences and prevention strategies of workplace violence in Rwanda; to assist the Ministries of Health, Public service and Labor (MIFOTRA) as well as other stakeholders in developing a political, legal and programmatic response to improve providers’ safety, satisfaction and retention. This study also explored the characteristics of gender-based violence, including gender-based discrimination and its relation to workplace violence. [adapted from foreword]

Alleviating the Burden of Responsibility: Report on a Study of Men as Providers of Community-Based HIV/AIDS Care and Support in Lesotho

This report details the work of the the Capacity Project assistance to the Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to strengthen its capacity to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by addressing gender segregation in nonformal caregiving through the active engagement of men as providers of community and home-based HIV/AIDS care and support. [adapted from foreword]

Guidelines for Occupational Safety and Health, Including HIV in the Health Services Sector

These guidelines target all health workers at the different levels of the health care delivery system and apply to both the formal and informal workplaces within the health sector. This document covers the basic principles that are required to ensure workplace safety and health including hazard identification, risk management, prevention and management of exposures and incidents. [from foreword]

Addressing Educational Needs of Health Workers in Ghana Using Distance Education

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]

Balanced Counseling Strategy Plus: a Toolkit for Family Planning Service Providers Working in High HIV/STI Prevalence Settings

This toolkit is an interactive, client-friendly approach for improving counseling on family planning and prevention, detection, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. It includes a training of trainers guide that supervisors and others can use to train health care facility directors and service providers on how to use the BCS+ for counseling family planning clients. [from publisher]

Atlas: Country Profiles on Mental Health Resources

This document provides individual country profiles detailing basic mental health resources around the world. Section I describes the methodology used, as well as the global and regional analyses, while Section II provides short descriptive profiles for each country. [adapted from introduction]

Role of Reproductive Health Providers in Preventing HIV

This brief discusses the important role of reproductive health providers in reducing the incidence of new HIV infections over the coming years through an increased focus on outreach to young people and men. [adapted from introduction]

Effectiveness of a Clinically Integrated e-Learning Course in Evidence-Based Medicine: a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

This report evaluates the educational effects of a clinically integrated e-learning course for teaching basic evidence-based medicine among postgraduates compared to a traditional lecture-based course of equivalent content. [adapted from abstract]

Primary Care Groups: Improving the Quality of Care Through Clinical Governance

This article discusses the agenda for monitoring and improving the quality of health care through the use of clinical governance in National Health Service organizations in the UK. [adapted from introduction]

Evaluation of Uptake and Attitude to Voluntary Counseling and Testing among Health Care Professional Students in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania

Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) is a cornerstone for successful implementation of prevention, care and support services among HIV negative and positive individuals. VCT is also perceived to be an effective strategy in risk reduction among sexually active young people. This study aimed to assess the acceptability of VCT and its actual uptake among young health care professional students. [adapted from abstract]

Cost-Effectiveness Study of Caesarean-Section Deliveries by Clinical Officers, General Practitioners and Obstetricians in Burkina Faso

This paper evaluates the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of alternative training strategies for increasing access to emergency obstetric care in Burkina Faso. [adapted from abstract]

Evidence-Based Practice in Neonatal Health: Knowledge among Primary Health Care Staff in Northern Viet Nam

An estimated four million deaths occur annually among children in the neonatal period. Current evidence-based interventions could prevent a large proportion of these deaths; however, neonatal health care workers need to have knowledge regarding such practices before being able to put them into action. This survey assesses the knowledge of primary health care practitioners regarding basic, evidence-based procedures in neonatal care in a Vietnamese province and investigates whether differences in level of knowledge were linked to certain characteristics of community health centers.

Narrowing the Gap Between Eye Care Needs and Service Provision: the Service-Training Nexus

The provision of eye care in the developing world has been constrained by the limited number of trained personnel and by professional cultures. This paper presents a highly flexible competencies-based multiple entry and exit training system that matches and adapts training to the prevailing population and service needs and demands, while lifting overall standards over time and highlighting the areas of potential benefit. [from abstract]

Health Sector in Malawi

This report summarizes elements of the primary health strategy and the health sector goals established by the Malawi Ministry of Health.

Training and Mobility of Nurses: the Bangladesh Case

This presentation was part of the Mobility, Training and Supply of Health Workers Worshop. It discusses the state of nurse training and mobility and the policy considerations in Bangladesh.

Using Facts to Improve Health Worker Allocation in Cote d'Ivoire

Before the HRH situation could be addressed, it had to be measured. While it was long apparent that HRH availability, quality, and management needed to be improved, data to determine staffing needs and guide staff training and allocation were lacking. [from author]

Incentives for Health Worker Retention in Kenya: an Assessment of Current Practice

The study used a literature review and field research to obtain data on strategies for the retention of health workers in various institutions in Kenya.

Taking Action on Human Resources for Health: the Virtual Leadership Development Program for HR Managers

This issue explores the Management Sciences for Health’s Virtual Leadership Development Program, which was designed to strengthen the leadership capacity of health teams to produce organizational results. [adapted from author]

Human Resource Management Interventions to Improve Health Workers' Performance in Low and Middle Income Countries: a Realist Review

Improving health workers’ performance is vital for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In the literature on human resource management interventions to improve health workers’ performance in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC), hardly any attention has been paid to the question how HRM interventions might bring about outcomes and in which contexts. Our aim was to explore if realist review of published primary research provides better insight into the functioning of interventions in LMIC. [abstract]

Making an Impact: Transforming Service at a Remote Hospital in Kenya

This issue of Voices discusses the impact of the Emergency Hiring Plan developed in combination with the Capacity Project and the Kenyan Ministry of Health to increase the number of qualified professionals working in Kenya’s public health facilities. [adapted from author]

Hearing Community Voices: Grassroots Perceptions of an Intervention to Support Health Volunteers in South Africa

With the scarcity of African health professionals, volunteers are earmarked for an increased role in HIV/AIDS management, with a growing number of projects relying on grassroots community members to provide home nursing care to those with AIDS - as part of the wider task-shifting agenda. Yet little is known about how best to facilitate such involvement. This paper reports on community perceptions of a 3-year project which sought to train and support volunteer health workers in a rural community in South Africa. [from abstract]

Decentralization - Centralization Dilemma: Recruitment and Distribution of Health Workers in Remote Districts of Tanzania

This study highlights the experiences and challenges associated with decentralisation and the partial re-centralisation in relation to the recruitment and distribution of health workers. [from abstract]

Guideline for Regional HRH Country Strategic Planning

This presentation covers the proces of developing a regional guideline for country strategic planning, results from a situational analysis, a draft regional guideline and the next steps. [adapted from author]

Guidance for the Health Information Systems (HIS) Strategic Planning Process: Steps, Tools and Templates for HIS Systems Design and Strategic Planning

This document is an early version of procedures for use by national health and statistics constituencies in planning and carrying out the design of strategies and operational plans for strengthening their national health information systems. [from summary]

Human Resources and Financing for the Health Sector in Malawi

This report summarizes the key problems in the health sector and their implications on human resources for health and financing of the health sector; discusses the issues on human resources for health; explores options for improving the production, deployment, retention and management of these workers; analyzes the current state of financing in the health sector; explores options for the financing of essential health services and non-EHP services; and summarizes the way forward. [adapted from introduction]

Nightmare to Awakening: Performance Improvement for Health Management in Uganda

This issue of Voices describes the Capacity Project’s work on the health management information system (HMIS) in Uganda including an assessment of the HMIS performance and support in setting standards for using it effectively.

Assessment of the Eye Care Workforce in Enugu State, South-Eastern Nigeria

The availability and distribution of an appropriate eye care workforce are fundamental to reaching the goals of “VISION 2020: The right to sight”, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness. The objectives of the study were to determine the availability and distribution of human resources for eye care delivery in Enugu Urban, south-eastern Nigeria. [from abstract]

HRH Situational Analysis

This presentation provdes users with a process for accomplishing an HRH situation analysis by identifying key information and through familiarization with analytical models to identify problems.