Documents & Reports

Non-state providers (NSP) of healthcare, whether philanthropic or commercial, exist outside the public sector. Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found evidence that NSPs provide the majority of primary contacts with the health system in all six countries, except possibly South Africa. [from author]

The purposes of this study were to quantify stigma among Rwandan healthcare providers toward patients with HIV/AIDS; to assess healthcare provider fears and perceived risks for HIV while providing services to patients with HIV/AIDS; to quantify practices in hospitals and health centers and among health providers that discriminate against HIV-positive patients; and to evaluate the relationship between provider stigma, provider fears, and perceived risks with discrimination against HIV-positive patients in health facilities and among healthcare providers. [from summary]

HPI conducted a survey in Ukraine to test indicators and questions regarding HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination at the facility/provider level. This research examined HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination by providers of general medical services in three regions in Ukraine. [from summary]

Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) act as a bridge between the government and the community and serve as a frontline for local health resources. The objectives of this study of FCHV in Twenty Districts of Nepal was to see the existing condition of the FCHVs working in the communities of Nepal. The survey collected information on basic health services provided by FCHVs to the community in terms of the provision of specific commodities and the provision of information, communication, counseling, and other support to the rural community. [adapted from summary]

This brief synthesizes best practices in achieving reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) goals for the Europe and Eurasia region, and highlights the role of the private sector in meeting these goals. [from author]

This paper aims to increase the visibility of the issues facing the EU health workforce, to generate a clearer picture of the extent to which local and/or national health managers face the same challenges and to provide a better basis for considering what could be done at EU level to address these problems effectively, and in a manner which does not have a negative impact on health systems outside the EU. [from author]

The shortage of health staff in developing countries has led to renewed interest in community-based health care workers. However, poor populations are increasingly accessing health services from a wide variety of providers operating as private or semi-private agents in unregulated markets. In this environment, is there a role for the community health worker? [from author]

Pakistan has introduced female health workers to make sure that women are able to receive the health care they need. However, these health workers face the same cultural constraints as other women in their society. Male colleagues and managers must be more supportive to female health workers, whilst formal structures should be provided for training and effective complaints procedures. [from author]

Contracts can be used to govern the relationship between the public and the private sectors where the private sector delivers services on behalf of the state. On occasion, this allows the state to offer services such as basic medical provision where public sector provision does not reach. Researchers examine the case of primary care in South Africa where such contracts are being utilised. [from author]

The nursing workforce in many countries today is more age diverse than ever before in history. Each generation has a distinct set of characteristics, values, beliefs and preferences. Understanding these differences and blending them in the workplace challenges even the most experienced and capable leader. This paper identifies the characteristics of each generation and explores several implications for the effective management of nursing services. [from foreword]

The objective of this paper is to identify the future workforce challenges that will have a profound impact on the capacity to recruit and retain staff. In addition, issues that pertain to key staff groups for this care group will be identified. [from introduction]

This report utilizes statistical information derived from a central data source for resource planning regarding the supply, distribution and migration of physicians in Canada. [from introduction]

This report discusses attrition rates in diagnostic and therapeutic radiography degree courses, and includes recommendations on how these rates could be reduced. [from introduction]

The objective of this report is to identify future workforce challenges that will have a profound impact on the capacity to recruit and retain staff. In addition, issues that pertain to key staff groups for this care group will be identified. [from introduction]

The objective of this paper is to identify the future workforce challenges that will have a profound impact on the capacity to recruit and retain staff. In addition, issues that pertain to key staff groups for this care group will be identified. [from introduction]

In health facilities across Kenya, many workers are struggling to do their jobs in less-than-ideal conditions. Work climate issues such as poor working environments, unfriendly colleagues, disorganized facility functions and ineffective supervision have been hindering workers’ performance and productivity and contributing to low retention. [from author]

This document reviews the issues around midwives and others with midwifery skills: who they are, what they do and how to scale up professional attendance at all births. It also includes case studies of midwifery initiatives. [adapted from summary]

This report documents experiences and lessons from the First International Forum on Midwifery in the Community related to training and scaling-up the midwifery workforce.

Urgent support to increase the numbers and skills of midwives would save the lives of 5 million women, prevent 80 million illnesses and disabilities from pregnancy or childbirth and save the lives of countless newborns. The goal of this workshop is to contribute to that agenda, and respond to the global focus on human resources for health. [from executive summary]

This guidance note is designed for countries seeking to scale up midwifery services, especially at the community level. It outlines in detail the action required by policy-makers and program managers to effect change at country level and scale up midwifery capacity, specifically in poor and hard-to-reach areas.

This policy brief describes steps towards the determination and implementation of an optimal skill mix within a health system, including definition of the skill mix and how to achieve clarity regarding the key policy problems for which it is envisioned as a solution. [from executive summary]

This resource is a chapter from Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. Despite the best efforts of primary care providers and public health planners, not every emergency is preventable. Actual provision of emergency care may range from delivery using trained emergency professionals to delivery by laypeople and taxi drivers. Developing strategies to meet the range of needs posed by such diverse circumstances will require innovation and a reorientation of public health planning. [from introduction]

Imbalances in quantity and quality of human resources for health (HRH) are increasingly recognized as perhaps the most critical impediment to achieving health outcome objectives in most African countries. However, reliable data on the HRH situation is not readily available. Some countries have hesitated to act in the absence of such data; other countries have not acted even when data are available while others have moved ahead in spite of the lack of reliable information. This paper addresses the issue of data use for HRH policy-making. [from summary]

The Capacity Project has been helping to strengthen human resources information systems (HRIS) in several African countries, and many of the systems are now able to produce useful reports about the health workforce. [from author]

This publication provides a framework for health and information professionals, as well as stakeholders, for improving the use of information to guide policymaking, program design, management, and service provision in the health sector in developing countries. [adapted from introduction]

In sub-Saharan Africa, the private health sector ranges from traditional healers, pharmacies, and shopkeepers selling health care products, to nonprofit and for-profit clinics and hospitals. There are a variety of reasons people use the private health sector including convenience, perceived quality, confidentiality, or because nothing else is available. Moreover, private health care in sub-Saharan Africa is not just for the rich. Africans of all socioeconomic backgrounds turn to the private sector for their health care needs. [from author]

Continuing education is necessary for all health care providers to remain up-to-date with the rapid technological advances and accumulation of new knowledge resulting from constant research. This booklet is intended to provide guidelines for planning, accrediting and implementing continuing professional development in Uganda. [adapted from foreword]

In response to the critical HRH shortages in Africa, 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.

To help build the health workforce in Uganda, the Capacity Project is assisting the Ministry of Health to strengthen its human resources management and ability to gather and use accurate data for strategic planning. Drawing on key policy questions developed by the Health Workforce Advisory Board, the Capacity Project installed a certification and licensing information system at the four health professional councils and a human resources management system at the Ministry of Health.

This technical brief describes in some detail the human resources managment (HRM) problems that contribute to the health worker crisis, as these have often been underplayed, or not addressed at all. The brief also identifies specific strategic actions that ought to be taken to address these HRM challenges, and concludes with some examples of broad futuristic thinking and innovations to stimulate donor and programmatic funding opportunities for strengthening HRH. [from author]