Journal Articles

One of the main goals of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to increase the performance of organizations. However, few studies have explicitly addressed the multidimensional character of performance and linked HR practices to various outcome dimensions. This study therefore adds to the literature by relating HR practices to three outcome dimensions: financial, organizational and employee (HR) outcomes. Furthermore, we will analyze how HR practices influence these outcome dimensions, focusing on the mediating role of job satisfaction. [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 paper explores the key issues associated with regulation of health markets in LMICs, and the different goals of regulation, namely quality and safety of care, value for money, social agreement over fair access and financing, and accountability. Licensing, price controls, and other traditional approaches to the regulation of markets for health products and services have played an important role, but they have been of questionable effectiveness in ensuring safety and efficacy at the point of the user in LMICs. [from abstract]

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]

The health sector is characterized by a human resource base lacking in numbers, specialized skills, and management skills. West African Health Organization (WAHO) recognizes the need within the West Africa sub-region for bilingual professionals who are skilled in public health, management, leadership, and information technology to build human capacity in public health and developed the Young Professionals Internship Program (YPIP). Our study explores the evolution of the programme. [from abstract]

Rural households in India rely extensively on informal biomedical providers, who lack valid medical qualifications. Their numbers far exceed those of formal providers. Our study reports on the education, knowledge, practices and relationships of informal providers (IPs) in two very different districts: Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand (north) and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh (south). [from abstract]

Despite the substantial investment for providing HIV counselling and testing (VCT) services in Zambia, there has been little effort to systematically evaluate the quality of VCT services provided by various types of health providers. This study, conducted in 2009, examines VCT in the public and private sectors including private for-profit and NGO/faith-based sectors in Copperbelt and Luapula. [from abstract]

As Asia has shown strong increases in institutional coverage of delivery care in the last decade, we will examine trends in six Asian countries. We hypothesize that if the private sector competes for clients based on perceived quality, their clientele will be wealthier, more educated and live in an area where there are enough health facilities to allow for competition. [from abstract]

One strategic approach to increase the use of appropriate maternal healthcare services is to encourage the expansion of the role of the private sector. However, critics of such an approach argue that increasing the role of the private sector will lead to increased inequity in the use of maternal healthcare services. This article explores this issue in two South Asian countries that have traditionally had high rates of maternal mortality—Nepal and Bangladesh. [from abstract]

This institutional ethnography(IE) explores the right to health in the international mental health field, and a subfield concerned with equitable access to treatment in developing countries and for marginalized people elsewhere. Indicators of mental health and development and the “scaling up” of corresponding treatment and services goals have been at the forefront in this field that is known discursively as “Global Mental Health” (GMH) [from abstract]

In order to address the challenges facing the community-based health workforce in Zambia, the Ministry of Health implemented the national community health assistant strategy in 2010. The strategy aims to address the challenges by creating a new group of workers called community health assistants (CHAs) and integrating them into the health system. The first group started working in August 2012. The objective of this paper is to document their motivation to become a CHA, their experiences of working in a rural district, and how these experiences affected their motivation to work.

In 2005, India embarked on the National Rural Health Mission, an extraordinary effort to strengthen the health systems. However, coverage of priority interventions remains insufficient, and the content and quality of existing interventions are suboptimum.

Between 2006 and 2010, the following increases in coverage took place as compared to 2000–2005, particularly in rural areas, where most poor women live: births with skilled attendance (77% increase vs. 26%), institutional delivery (146% increase vs. 8%), and contraceptive prevalence (351% increase vs. 150%). The primary factors in these improvements were increases in the health workforce and their skills, performance-based financing, community-based health insurance, and better leadership and governance.

College of Medicine, Gulf Medical University, United Arab Emirates, underwent a major curriculum change from a discipline-based to an organ system-based integrated curriculum. However, it was not known how the faculty perceived the changes in the educational environment as experienced by the students. In this context, we aimed to compare the faculty perceptions of the student experiences in the discipline-based curriculum with those in the organ system-based integrated curriculum. [from abstract]

Numerous studies have revealed that study skills have a constructive role on the academic performance of students, in addition to educational quality, students’ intelligence, and their affective characteristics. This study aims to examine study skills and the factors influencing them among the health sciences students of Urmia University of Medical Sciences in Iran. [from abstract]

This study examines mood and cardiovascular variables related to job stress and burnout in hospital personnel. [from abstract]

This study was undertaken to assess perceived service quality in hospitals located in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The research was a cross-sectional survey which employed the use of a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire that was administered to 400 outpatients in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Data obtained from the study was analyzed quantitatively using descrip
tive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and multiple regressions. [from abstract]

Given the essential role of data collection and management in the health system, this study intended to evaluation of the
observance rate of component information management in the health system of Chahar Mahal Bakhtiyari province based on World Health Organization standards. [from abstract]

The main objective of this study was to examine the health seeking behavior of TB patients, practices of TB and access to health care. A cross- sectional survey of TB patients was done in Athi River, Machakos level 5 and Mutituni TB treatment health facilities in Machakos County. [from abstract]

Through the supply and demand of China’s human resources for health status, age structure, educational level of existing health professionals and other aspects of statistical analysis to understand the current situation of China’s
health human resources, so as to put forward the healthy development of health human resource allocation optimization suggestions, and provide the basis for the formulation of relevant policies. [from abstract]

There has been considerable interest in paediatric HIV disclosure. This is the process leading to full disclosure (when the condition is named for the HIV-positive child, usually by a caregiver or healthcare worker). WHO guidelines state that children should be aware of the name of their condition by the age of 12, with younger children told their status incrementally to accommodate their cognitive skills and emotional maturity in preparation for full disclosure.

This paper reports on a literature review as part of a research program, which aims to inform the development of an effective roadmap for the successful implementation of the national e-Health initiative in Ghana. [from abstract]

To evaluate the effect of nursing educational guidelines on women’s awareness, health practices and beliefs regarding the prevention and early detection of breast and cervical cancer. [from abstract]

The active recruitment of health workers from developing countries to developed countries has become a major threat to global health. In an effort to manage this migration, the 63rd World Health Assembly adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel in May 2010. While the Code has been lauded as the first globally-applicable regulatory framework for health worker recruitment, its impact has yet to be evaluated.

This paper presents experiences with local and regional adaptation and adoption of WHO recommendations. It highlights challenges and lessons learnt in implementation in two countries – the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and South Africa – and provides a broader perspective in two regions – Asia and Europe. At country level, the use of the recommendations facilitated a more structured and focused policy dialogue, which resulted in the development and adoption of more relevant and evidence-based policies. [from abstract]

The bottom of the pyramid concept suggests that profit can be made in providing goods and services to poor people, when high volume is combined with low margins. To-date there has been very limited empirical evidence from the health sector concerning the scope and potential for such bottom of the pyramid models. This paper analyzes private for-profit (PFP) providers currently offering services to the poor on a large scale, and assesses the future prospects of bottom of the pyramid models in health. [from abstract]

Here we suggest several different mechanisms through which such links could be developed or enhanced, including: provision of relevant health solutions, applied research, cultural alignment and the development of collaborative networks. The Islamic tradition promotes the practice of medicine as a service to humanity. Physical and spiritual wellbeing are intimately related in popular Muslim consciousness. Thoughtful Health Diplomacy therefore has the potential to bridge the perceived divides between Western and predominantly Muslim nations. [from abstract]