Journal Articles

Febrile Illness Management in Children Under Five Years of Age: A Qualitative Pilot Study on Primary Health Care Workers' Practices in Zanzibar

The aim of this qualitative pilot study was to investigate primary health workers’ practices which lead to diagnostic and treatment decisions for febrile children under five years of age in Zanzibar rural health facilities and identify primary influences shaping clinical practice, including past training among health workers, types of diagnostic tools used, and educational factors. [from author]

Mobile Technology Supporting Trainee Doctors' Workplace Learning and Patient Care: An Evaluation

This paper reports an evaluation of an initiative which provided trainee doctors in Wales with a library of texts on a smartphone. Within a wider context of use of information sources in the workplace, the evaluation sought to find out how, when and why the Smartphone library was used and the outcomes and impact on knowledge and practice. [from author]

HIV and TB in Practice for Nurses: TB Infection Control

This issue covers why TB infection control is an important issue for nurses; how TB is spread; creating an enabling environment for TB infection control; and administrative, environmental and personal controls. [adapted from author]

Experiences of Health Care Providers with Integrated HIV and Reproductive Health Services in Kenya: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study was conducted among frontline health workers to explore provider experiences with integration in order to ascertain their significance to the performance of integrated health facilities. [from abstract]

Restructuring Brain Drain: Strengthening Governance and Financing for Health Worker Migration

Health worker migration from resource-poor countries to developed countries, also known as brain drain, represents a serious global health crisis and a significant barrier to achieving global health equity. Using acceptable methods of policy analysis, the authors assess current strategies aimed at alleviating brain drain and then propose a global health policy based solution to address current policy limitations. [adapted from abstract]

Physical and Mental Helath among Caregivers: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study of Open University Students in Thailand

Caregivers constitute an important informal workforce, often undervalued, facing challenges to maintain their caring role, health and wellbeing. This study investigates the physical and mental health of Thai adult caregivers. [from abstract]

Developing European Guidelines for Training Care Professionals in Mental Health

Although mental health promotion is a priority mental health action area for all European countries, high level training resources and high quality skills acquisition in mental health promotion are still relatively rare. The aim of the current paper is to present the results of a project to develop guidelines for training social and health care professionals in mental health promotion. [adapted from abstract]

Scaling Up Specialist Training in Developing Countries: Lessons Learned from the First 12 Years of Regional Postgraduate Training in Fiji - a Case Study

In 1997, regional specialist training was established in Fiji, consisting of one-year Postgraduate Diplomas followed by three-year master’s degree programs in anesthesia, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics and surgery. The evolution of these programs during the first 12 years is presented in this article. [from abstract]

Health Manpower Development in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

This study sought to identify factors necessary for effective development of health manpower in the low-resourced Bayelsa State. [adapted from abstract]

Case Study of the Counterpart Technical Support Policy to Improve Rural Health Services in Beijing

This study systematically evaluated a program to improve rural health services and reduce inequality in urban and rural services by requiring urban doctors to spend time in rural hospitals. The evaluation assessed changes over time in hospital performance and the rural-urban performance gap. [adapted from abstract]

Contracting in Specialists for Emergency Obstetric Care: Does it Work in Rural India?

Contracting in private sector is promoted in developing countries facing human resources shortages as a challenge to reduce maternal mortality. This study explored provision, practice, performance, barriers to execution and views about contracting in specialists for emergency obstetric care in rural India. [from abstract]

Survey of Resilience, Burnout, and Tolerance of Uncertainty in Australian General Practice Registars

The objective of this study was to measure resilience, burnout, compassion satisfaction, personal meaning in patient care and intolerance of uncertainty in Australian general practice registrars. [from abstract]

Job Satisfaction among Public Health Professionals Working in Public Sector: A Cross Sectional Study from Pakistan

The objective of the study was to determine the level of and factors influencing job satisfaction among public health professionals in the public sector. [from abstract]

Developing eLearning Technologies to Implement Competency Based Medical Education: Experiences from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences

This paper details the experience of developing an eLearning technology as a tool to implement competency-based medical education in Tanzania medical universities, inlcuding the background, early adoption attempts, challenges to implementation and lessons learned. [adapted from abstract]

Private Sector Delivery of Health Services in Developing Countries: A Mixed-Methods Study on Quality Assurance in Social Franchises

The aim of this study was to better understand the quality assurance systems currently utilized in social franchises that deliver private sector health care, and to determine if there are shared standards for practice or quality outcomes that exist across programs. [adapted from abstract]

Going Private: A Qualitative Comparison of Medical Specialists' Job Satisfaction in the Public and Private Sectors of South Africa

This article elaborates what South African medical specialists find satisfying about working in the public and private sectors, at present, and how to better incentivize retention in the public sector. [from abstract]

Study of Status of Safe Injection Practice and Knowledge Regarding Injection Safety among Primary Health Care Workers in Baglung District, Western Nepal

This study was carried out to determine whether the selected government health facilities in Nepal satisfy the conditions for safe injections in terms of staff training, availability of sterile injectable equipment and their proper disposal after use; and to assess knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers in these health care facilities with regard to injection safety. [from abstract]

Evaluating an Evidence-Based Curriculum in Undergraduate Palliative Care Education: Piloting a Phase II Exploratory Trial for a Complex Intervention

The goals of this study were to demonstrate an evidence-based approach towards developing undergraduate palliative care educatio ncurricula and investigate the change in medical students’ self-perceived readiness to deal with palliative care patients and their families. [from abstract]

Migration of Health Workers: A Challenge for Health Care System

This article outlines the issue of health worker migration and its impact on health systems of developing countries. It recommends a strategic approach by governments and other agencies for regulating the flow of health workers between countries using a range of policies and interventions to deal with the broader health system issues. [adapted from abstract]

Provision of Injectable Contraceptives in Ethiopia through Community-Based Reproductive Health Agents

The objective of this study was to determine if, with appropriate training, volunteers known as community-based reproductive health agents can administer injectable contraceptives to women in a rural region of Ethiopia with the same effectiveness, safety and acceptability as health extension workers. [from author]

Stigma, an Important Source of Dissatisfaction of Health Workers in HIV Response in Vietnam: A Qualitative Study

This study describes health worker perceptions and explores the factors that influence job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of health personnel working on the HIV response in Vietnam and confirms the relationship between stigmatization of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and stigma experienced by staff because of association with PLHIV from families, colleagues, and society. [adapted from abstract]

Cross-Sectional Study to Identify Organisational Processes Associated with Nurse-Reported Quality and Patient Safety

The purpose of this study was to identify organisational process measures in nurses’ work environment and hospital characteristics (organisational structure measures) that were associated with nurse-reported patient safety and quality of nursing. In particular, we were interested in which process measures remained after adjusting for organisational structure measures.

Workplace Violence against Physician and Nurses in Palestinian Public Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of this study was to assess the incidence, magnitude, consequences and possible risk factors for workplace violence against nurses and physicians working in public Palestinian hospitals. [from abstract]

Managing Health Worker Migration: A Qualitative Study of the Philippine Response to Nurse Brain Drain

This study examines how the development of brain drain-responsive
policies is driven by the effects of nurse migration and how such efforts aim to achieve mind-shifts among nurses, governing and regulatory bodies, and public and private institutions in the Philippines and worldwide. [from abstract]

Model for Community Health Service Development in Depressed Rural Areas in China

This article describes and intervention to introduce a model of community health service organization, as implemented in urban areas, to less developed rural areas in China and evaluate the impact of this model on health care utilization. [adapted from abstract]

Seven Years of the Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: An Internal Evaluation

Beginning in 2001, the National Institute of Epidemiology admitted 80 trainees in its two-year field epidemiology training programme. This article evaluated the first seven years of the programme to identify strengths and weaknesses. [adapted from author]

Occupational Health Risks of Pathologists: Results from a Nationwide Online Questionnaire in Switzerland

The work of pathologists is associated with potential health hazards including injuries involving infectious human tissue, chemicals which are assumed to be carcinogenic or long periods of microscope and computer work. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the health situation of pathologists in Switzerland. [adapted from abstract]

Scaling-Up Malaria Treatment: A Review of the Performance of Different Providers

This review looked for evidence for the most effective approach to deliver malaria treatment in developing countries, by public sector, formal and informal private sector, and community health workers. The authors analysed 31 studies to assess providers based on six criteria: knowledge and practice of provider, diagnosis, referral practices, price of medicine, availability of ACT, and treatment coverage and impact on morbidity and mortality. [from abstract]

Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Cross-Sectional Survey among Physicians in Estonia

The objective of this study was to assess attitudes towards clinical practice guidelines, as well as the barriers and facilitators to their use, among Estonian physicians. The study was conducted to inform the revision of the clinical practice guideline development process and can provide inspiration to other countries considering the increasing use of evidence-based medicine. [from abstract]

Physician Migration at Its Roots: A Study on the Factors Contributing Towards a Career Choice Abroad Among Students at a Medical School in Pakistan

The main objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of migration intentions in medical undergraduates, to elucidate the factors responsible and to analyze the attitudes and practices related to these intentions. [from abstract]