Journal Articles

Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer Knowledge and Practices among Healthcare and Public Health Professionals in China: a Cross-Sectional Study

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the leading cause of liver disease and liver cancer and a major source of health-related discrimination in China. To better target HBV detection and prevention programs, it is necessary to assess existing HBV knowledge, educational resources, reporting, and preventive practices, particularly among those health professionals who would be responsible for implementing such programs. [from abstract]

Planejamento de recursos humanos de enfermagem: desafio para as lideranças

Propõe-se um ensaio das questões que envolvem o planejamento de recursos humanos de enfermagem na área hospitalar em nossa realidade, abordando possíveis temas para futuras pesquisas. Traça-se uma retrospectiva da evolução das pesquisas sobre dimensionamento de pessoal no país e a incorporação de novos instrumentos para avaliação da carga de trabalho com base no grau de dependência dos pacientes e nas ações de cuidado.

Rejection of an Innovation: Health Information Management Training Materials in East Africa

This paper reports on a research study to investigate the introduction of new information management strategies intended to promote an informational approach to management at the operational health service level in low-income countries. It aims to understand the process taking place when externally developed training materials, which are intended to strengthen health management information systems, are introduced to potential users in an east African country. [from author]

Course of Specialization in Public Health in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 1926 to 2006: Lessons and Challenges

In this article we analyse Brazil’s 80 year old public health course via its history, disciplines, organization and characteristics of the student body in order to gain an insight into the development of public health in Brazil and to highlight the progress of education for professionals in this field. [adapted from author]

Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employement and Life (MABEL) Longitudinal Survey: Protocol and Baseline Data for a Prospective Cohort Study of Australian Doctors' Workforce Participation

While there is considerable research on medical workforce supply trends, there is little research examining the determinants of labour supply decisions for the medical workforce. The MABEL study investigates workforce participation patterns and their determinants using a longitudinal survey of Australian doctors. It aims to generate evidence to support developing effective policy responses to workforce issues such as shortages and maldistribution. This paper describes the study protocol and baseline cohort, including an analysis of response rates and response bias. [from abstract]

Primary Health Care Supervision in Developing Countries

The objectives of this article were summarise opinion about what supervision of primary health care is by those advocating it; compare these features with reports describing supervision in practice; and to appraise the evidence of the effects of sector performance. [adapted from summary]

Strategy to Improve Skills in Pharmaceutical Supply Management in East Africa: the Regional Technical Resource Collaboration for Pharmaceutical Management

This article evaluates a training initiative that has been established to help address the problem of skills shortage in pharmaceutical management in East Africa. [adapted from abstract]

Wrong Schools or Wrong Students? The Potential Role of Medical Education in Regional Imbalances of the Health Workforce in the United Republic of Tanzania

This paper reviews available research evidence that links medical students’ characteristics with human resource imbalances and the contribution of medical schools in perpetuating an inequitable distribution of the health workforce. [from abstract]

Private Practitioners and Public Health: Weak Links in Tuberculosis Control

Information on health expenditure suggests that most poor countries have a large and growing private medical sector. Surveys indicate that the private sector is an important source of care, even for poor people and even where public services are widely available. Experts believe that private practitioners manage a large proportion of the unreported majority of tuberculosis cases. [adapted from author]

Validation of Community Health Workers' Assessment of Neonatal Illness in Rural Bangladesh

Improving neonatal health and survival requires cost-effective interventions at the community level, as well as linkages between the community and the health-care system within the continuum of care for the treatment of severe illness. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of CHWs in recognizing signs and symptoms of neonatal illness during routine household surveillance in rural Bangladesh. [from introduction]

Human Resource and Funding Constraints for Essential Surgery in District Hospitals in Africa: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Survey

While constrained health budgets and health worker shortages have been blamed for the low rates of surgery, there has been little empirical data on the providers of surgery and cost of surgical services in Africa. This study described the range of providers of surgical care and anesthesia and estimated the resources dedicated to surgery at district hospitals in three African countries. [from abstract]

Task Shifting Routine Inpatient Pediatric HIV Testing Improves Program Outcomes in Urban Malawi: A Retrospective Observational Study

This study evaluated two models of routine HIV testing of hospitalized children in a high HIV-prevalence resource-constrained African setting. Both models incorporated task shifting, or the allocation of tasks to the least-costly, capable health worker. [from abstract]

Health Worker Migration: Disease or Symptom

This article discusses the evidence for claiming out-migration of health workers impacts health and how to address the issue ethically.

Evaluation Study on the Relevance and Effectiveness of Training Activities in Northern Uganda

This study focused on a trained health workforce in Northern Uganda. The retention of specifically-trained staff 12-15 months after attending training was examined, as was the relevance and usefulness of the training as perceived by the health workers. [from abstract]

Improving Health Workforce Recruitment and Retention in Rural and Remote Regions of Nigeria

This article posits that out-migration of health workers is not a critical contributor to health workforce shortages in Nigeria’s rural and remote areas and that more important factors include: contraction of government health spending as a percentage of GDP despite deteriorating health conditions, public health management systems that operate by default rather than by design, spartan living conditions outside urban areas, inadequate training of appropriate cadres of health staff, limited facilities and medications for effective delivery of clinical services, and burnout of overworked and unde

European Forum for Primary Care and the European Commission Consultation Process on the European Workforce for health: Some Emerging Messages

This editorial provides a summary of the results of a consultation on the urgent challenges the health workforce is facing. [adapted from author]

Incentive Payments to General Practitioners Aimed at Increasing Opportunistic Testing of Young Women for Chlamydia: a Pilot Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

Financial incentives have been used for many years internationally to improve quality of care in general practice. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if offering general practitioners a small incentive payment per test would increase chlamydia testing in women aged 16 to 24 years, attending general practice. [from abstract]

New Pardigm Old Thinking: The Case for Emergency Obstetric Care in the Prevention of Maternal Mortality in Nigeria

This study assessed the knowledge of maternity unit operatives at the primary and secondary levels of care about the concept of emergency obstetric care and investigated the contents of antenatal care counseling services they delivered to clients. It also described the operatives’ preferred strategies and practices for promoting safe motherhood and averting maternal mortality in south-west Nigeria. [from abstract]

Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of Smear-Positive Tuberculosis Treatment by Health Extension Workers in Southern Ethiopia: A Community Randomized Trial

In this study, we aimed to determine the cost and cost-effectiveness of involving health extension workers in tuberculosis treatment in Southern Ethiopia. This paper presents an ancillary cost-effectiveness analysis of data from a randomized control trial. [adapted from introduction]

What Does It Take to Make Integrated Care Work?

Around the world, only a few health care providers deliver integrated care effectively. Their experiences offer useful lessons for organizations that want to pilot integrated-care programs. [from author]

Developing Counseling skills through Pre-Recorded Videos and Role Play: a Pre- and Post-Intervention Study in a Pakistani Medical School

Interactive methods like role play, recorded video scenarios and objective structured clinical exam are being regularly used to teach and assess communication skills of medical students in the western world. In developing countries however, they are still in the preliminary phases of execution in most institutes. Our study was conducted in a naive under resourced setup to assess the impact of such teaching methodologies on the counseling skills of medical students. [from abstract]

Evaluating Different Dimensions of Programme Effectiveness for Private Medicine Retailer Malaria Control Interventions in Kenya

This study presents evaluation findings of two different programs targeting private medicine retailers for malaria control in Kenya. Key components of this evaluation were measurement of program performance, including coverage, knowledge, practices, and utilization based on spatial analysis. [from abstract]

Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of Internet-Based CME Delivery Format on Satisfaction, Knowledge and Confidence

The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative evaluation of two internet-based continuing medical education delivery formats and the effect on satisfaction, knowledge and confidence outcomes. [from abstract]

Impact of Provider-Initiated (Opt-Out) HIV Testing and Counseling of Patients with Sexually Transmitted Infection in Cape Town, South Africa: a Controlled Trial

This study evaluated whether the provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling approach increased HIV testing amongst patients with a new episode of sexually transmitted infection, as compared to standard voluntary counseling and testing at the primary care level in South Africa, a high prevalence and low resource setting. [from abstract]

Antiretroviral Treatment Outcomes from a Nurse-Driven, Community-Supported HIV/AIDS Treatment Programme in Rural Lesotho: Observational Cohort Assessment at Two Years

This successful program highlights how improving HIV care strengthened the primary health care system and validates several critical areas for task shifting that are being considered by other countries in the region, including nurse-driven ART for adults and children, and lay counsellor supported testing and counselling, adherence and case management. [from abstract]

Effect of a Peer-Educational Intervention on Provider Knowledge and Reported Performance in Family Planning Services: a Cluster Randomized Trial

This study evaluated the effect of an educational program including peer discussions on the providers’ knowledge and reported performance in family planning services. [from abstract]

Internet-Based Medical Education: a Realist Review of What Works, for Whom and in What Circumstances

This article aims to produce theory driven criteria to guide the development and evaluation of internet-based medical courses. [from abstract]

Can Developing Countries Achieve Adequate Improvements in Child Health Outcomes without Engaging the Private Sector?

This article reviews the available evidence on private sector utilization and quality of care. It provides a framework for analysing the private sector’s influence on child health outcomes. [from abstract]

Effects of Computerized Clinical Decision Support Systems on Practitioner Performance and Patient Outcomes: Methods of a Decision-Maker-Researcher Partnership Systematic Review

The objective of this research was to form a partnership of healthcare providers, managers, and researchers to review randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of computerized decision support for six clinical application areas: primary preventive care, therapeutic drug monitoring and dosing, drug prescribing, chronic disease management, diagnostic test ordering and interpretation, and acute care management; and to identify study characteristics that predict benefit. [from abstract]

Realist Evaluation of the Management of a Well-Performing Regional Hospital in Ghana

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