Journal Articles

Assessing Fitness to Practice of Overseas-Trained Health Practitioners by Australian Registration and Accreditation Bodies

Assessment of fitness-to-practice of health professionals trained overseas and who wish to practice in Australia is undertaken by a range of organisations. The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the methods of assessment used by these organisations and the issues associated with conducting these assessments. [from abstract]

Scale-Up of Home-Based Management of Malaria Based on Rapid Diagnostic Tests and Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapy in a Resource-Poor Country: Results in Senegal

In Senegal, an pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of a malaria treatment program in remote villages by volunteer home care providers. This paper reports the results of the scale-up in the targeted communities and the impact of the strategy on malaria in the formal health sector. [adapted from abstract]

Human Resources for Health and Philippine Policy Options

This literature review attempts to put the phenomenon of HRH migration into context in terms of the underlying factors that prompt workers to relocate, as well as the facilitating effects of globalization and worldwide HRH shortages. [adapted from abstract]

Recall of Lost to Follow-Up Pre-Antiretroviral Therapy Patients in the Eastern Cape: Effect of Mentoring on Patient Care

This study sought to prove that mentoring plays an important role in professional nurse training and support and that recall of lost-to-follow-up patients is feasible and effective in improving ART services in rural settings. [adapted from author]

Lifecourse Factors and Likelihood of Rural Practice and Emigration: A Survey of Ghanaian Medical Students

The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of experiential factors across Ghanaian medical students’ lifespans on intent to practice in a rural area and intent to emigrate. [from abstract]

Using Primary Health Care (PHC) Workers and Key Informants for Community Based Detection of Blindness in Children in Southern Malawi

The current study compared the effectiveness of trained health surveillance assistants versus trained volunteer key informants in identifying blind children in southern Malawi. [from abstract]

Increasing Community Health Worker Productivity and Effectiveness: A Review of the Influence of the Work Environment

This article presents policy-makers and programme managers with key considerations for a model to improve the work environment as an important approach to increase community health worker productivity and, ultimately, the effectiveness of community-based strategies. [from abstract]

Conscientious Objection and Reproductive Health Service Delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa

Lack of access to quality reproductive health services is the main contributor to the high maternal mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa. This is partly due to a shortage of qualified and experienced health care providers. However this article explores conscientious objection amongst the available few as a hitherto undocumented potential factor influencing access to health care. [from abstract]

Are Dutch Patients Willing to be Seen by a Physician Assistant Instead of a Medical Doctor?

The objective of this study was to assess the willingness of Dutch patients to be treated by a physician assistant or a medical doctor under various time constraints and semi-urgent medical scenarios to determine the patients’ perspectives on using physician assistants as a means to bridge the growing gap between the supply and demand of medical services. [adapted from abstract]

Effort-Reward Imbalance and Quality of Life of Healthcare Workers in Military Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study investigates the association between job stress, psychological morbidity and quality of life in healthcare workers in three military hospitals in Taiwan. [from abstract]

Assessing Performance Enhancing Tools: Experiences with the Open Performance Review and Appraisal System (OPRAS) and Expectations Towards Payment for Performance (P4P) in the Public Health Sector in Tanzania

This article addresses health workers’ experiences with the open performance review and appraisal system (OPRAS) in Tanzania, expectations towards pay for performance, and how lessons learned from OPRAS can assist in the implementation of pay for performance. The broader aim is to generate knowledge on health workers’ motivation in low-income contexts. [adapted from abstract]

Practicing Medicine without Borders: Tele-Consultation and Tele-Mentoring for Improving Paediatric Care in a Conflict Setting in Somalia

In a district hospital in conflict-torn Somalia, the authors assessed the impact of introducing telemedicine on the quality of paediatric care, and the added value as perceived by local clinicians. [from abstract]

Health Worker Satisfaction and Motivation: An Empirical Study of Incomes, Allowances and Working Conditions in Zambia

In this study the authors examine the relationship between health worker incomes and their satisfaction and motivation. [from abstract]

India's Health Workforce: Current Status and the Way Forward

This article compiles the information available on the health workforce of India from different sources and suggests a plan to address the shortages in different cadres. [from introduction]

District Health Executives in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe: Are They Performing as Expected?

This study investigated the reasons for the poor performance of the district health executives reported by provincial health managers in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe. [adapted from abstract]

Effect of UK Policy on Medical Migration: A Time Series Analysis of Physician Registration Data

This study compared the trends in new professional registrations in the UK from doctors qualifying overseas before and after the national ethical guidance on international recruitment to determine what, if any, effect these policies have had on ethical recruitment. [adapted from author]

Client Characteristics and Acceptability of a Home-Based HIV Counselling and Testing Intervention in Rural South Africa

There is growing interest in expanding testing coverage through the implementation of innovative models such as home-based HIV counselling and testing (HBHCT) by trained lay counsellors. With the aim of informing scale up, this paper discusses client characteristics and acceptability of an HBHCT intervention implemented in rural South Africa. [from abstract]

Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior about Public Health Emergencies and the Response Capacity of Primary Care Medical Staffs of Guangdong Province, China

The main objective of this study is to explore the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and the response capacity of primary care medical staff related to public health emergencies in Guangdong Province, China. [adapted from abstract]

Online Self-Administered Training for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Providers: Design and Methods for a Randomized, Prospective Intervention Study

The overall objective of this study was to conduct a prospective, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility, implementation, and effectiveness of internet based training in cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for mental health providers, including a standardized telephone-delivered supervision method. [from author]

Are Community Midwives Addressing the Inequities in Access to Skilled Birth Attendance in Punjab, Pakistan? Gender, Class and Social Exclusion

To address its high maternal mortality rate, in particular the inequities in access to maternal health care services, the government of Pakistan created a new cadre of community-based midwives. This study is designed to address a critical gap in our knowledge about whether this cadre of workers, operating in the private health care context, will meet the expectation to provide care to the poorest and most marginalized women. [adapted from author]

Enhanced Maternal and Child Health Nurse Care for Women Experiencing Intimate Partner/Family Violence: Protocol for MOVE, a Cluster Randomised Trial of Screening and Referral in Primary Health Care

This protocol describes the development and design of MOVE, a study to examine intimate partner violence screening effectiveness for nurses and the sustainability of screening practice. [adapted from abstract]

Primary Health Care in Rural Malawi: A Qualitative Assessment Exploring the Relevance of the Community-Directed Interventions Approach

Community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTi) and community-directed interventions (CDI) are participatory approaches to strengthen health care at community level. This study aimed at assessing primary health care in two rural Malawian districts without CDTi experience with a view to explore the relevance of the CDI approach. [adapted from abstract]

Private Rural Health Providers in Haryana, India: Profiles and Practices

Despite a widespread public health system, the private healthcare sector is the major provider of health care in rural India. This study describes the profile and medical practices of private rural health providers in rural Haryana, India. [from abstract]

Maternal and Newborn Healthcare Providers in Rural Tanzania: In-Depth Interviews on Motivation, Performance and Job Satisfaction

This article describes an exploratory study that asked: what is understood by the term motivation; what encourages and discourages providers of maternal and newborn care in rural areas; and which factors influence their performance and job satisfaction. [adapted from author]

Task Shifting in Maternal and Newborn Care: A Non-Inferiority Study Examining Delegation of Antenatal Counseling to Lay Nurse Aides Supported by Job Aids in Benin

Shifting the role of counseling to less skilled workers may improve efficiency and coverage of health services, but evidence is needed on the impact of substitution on quality of care. This research explored the influence of delegating maternal and newborn counseling responsibilities to clinic-based lay nurse aides on the quality of counseling provided as part of a task shifting initiative to expand their role. [from abstract]

Treatment Outcomes and Cost-Effectiveness of Shifting Management of Stable ART Patients to Nurses in South Africa: An Observational Cohort

This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of down-referring stable antiretroviral therapy (ART) patients from a doctor-managed, hospital-based ART clinic to a nurse-managed primary health care facility in Johannesburg, South Africa. [from abstract]

WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitement of Health Personnel: The Evolution of Global Health Diplomacy

Highlighting the contribution of non-binding instruments to global health governance, this article describes the World Health Organization Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel negotiation process from its early stages to the formal adoption of the final text. [from author]

How Does Capacity Building of Health Managers Work? A Realist Evaluation Study Protocol

The authors present the protocol of an evaluation of a district-level capacity-building intervention to identify the determinants of performance of health workers in managerial positions and to understand how changes (if any) are brought about. The scope for applying realist evaluation to study human resource management interventions in health is also discussed. [from abstract]

Relationship between Quality of Work Life and Turnover Intention of Primary Health Care Nurses in Saudi Arabia

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between quality of work life and turnover intention of primary health care nurses in Saudi Arabia. [from abstract]

Future Career Plans of Malawian Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Qualified doctors in Malawi continue to leave the public sector in order to work or train abroad. This study explored the postgraduate plans of current medical students, and the extent to which this is influenced by their background. [adapted from abstract]