Health Sector Managers

This paper argues that stronger and values-based public sector management and leadership is essential in building health systems that better address health inequities. It identifies the particular competencies of public sector managers and reviews evidence on how these competencies can be developed. Renewing the values base of public health system managers and professionals is an important requirement. [from summary]

The issue of The Manager focuses on designing and improving a package of HIV-related services using a conceptual framework called the Functional Service Delivery Point. The framework can help managers to identify the characteristics that make HIV-related services functional and to deliver these services with strong community and management support. [from editor]

Management Sciences for Health has developed an approach to helping managers become more like coaches, which has proven successful in various settings. This issue of the eManager will help you examine your managerial practices and give you the tools to expand your role from manager to manager as coach.

This presentation was given at the First Forum on Human Resources for Health in Kampala. It defines health leadership and management, why strengthening it is important, the lessons learned so far, and the main components and uses of the WHO framework. [adapted from author]

This presentation was given at the First Forum on Human Resources for Health in Kampala. It gives definitions and frameworks, core competencies needed, examples of good practice, observations and future directions. [adapted from author]

In an initiative to collate experiences on management development in low resource settings, WHO carried out case studies to explore management development approaches and how these impacted managerial and service delivery performance. [adapted from author]

The Institute of Health Management Research conceived an operational research project to develop and test key management interventions in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the district health system and services at the district level. [from author]

This study evaluated the skills and competency levels of hospital managers in South Africa to determine whether there are any significant differences between managers in the public and private sectors. The results show that managers in the private sector perceived themselves to be significantly more competent than their public sector colleagues in most of the management facets. Public sector managers were also more likely than their private sector colleagues to report that they required further development and training. [adapted from abstract]

A study was undertaken in Mexico, Colombia, and El Salvador to determine the impact of a management training program on health managers’ job performance. Factors associated with a successful training outcome were training techniques, strengthening of enabling factors, and reinforcement mechanisms. [adapted from abstract]

This Self-Assessment Inventory outlines the major areas of competence an effective supervisor must have. The competency areas are sub-divided into categories which correspond to the major functions supervisors perform. Its primary use is as a self-assessment tool. Individuals are encouraged to use it to assess their competence and performance as supervisors and use the results to develop a plan for improvement. This Inventory can also be used as a guide to curriculum development for Supervisory Training, using the components as the basis for a needs assessment exercise. [purpose]

The purpose and objectives of this study are to examine the extent to which the manager’s span of control influences nurse, patient, and unit outcomes; and investigate which particular leadership style contributes to optimum nurse, patient, and unit outcomes under differing spans of control. [author's description]

The main purpose of this chapter is thus to develop a dynamic and unified framework for describing and analysing the role of the health care manager in a changing Europe. The chapter also attempts to combine the construction of this theoretical model with its application, drawing on empirical work in different European countries to illustrate the challenges and opportunities arising from the various elements of health care reform. [from introduction]

This report is based on deliberations from an international consultation on strengthening leadership and management as an essential component to scaling health services to reach the Millennium Development Goals. The focus was on low-income countries though the principles discussed concerned leadership and management in other settings as well. The report describes a technical framework adopted by the consultation for approaching management development and sets out key principles for sustained and effective capacity building. [author's description]

Achieving the health Millennium Development Goals will require a significant scaling up of health service delivery in many countries. The number of competent managers will also have to be scaled up at the same time – managers are an essential resource for ensuring that priority needs are met and resources are used effectively. This study describes various management strengthening activities in 3 countries – South Africa, Togo and Uganda. [from executive summary]

Population-based healthcare has become the focus of healthcare services around the world so there is an ever-increasing need to train and support nurse managers who can led and nurture nurses as they work towards providing optimum levels of satisfaction and safety in the care they give to their patients. [abstract]

The objectives of this presentation are to provide participants with an understanding of the role of leaders and managers in promoting quality services and to have participants identify action steps/interventions to promote quality at different levels of the health system. [from author's description]

This issue of The Manager shows how health managers, though faced with multiple challenges of decentralization, can redefine their roles and responsibilities to better support both the people they serve and the staff at management levels closest to the population. It shows how health managers can adopt leadership practices to carry out their new roles and ultimately make decentralization work. [editor's description]

This issue of The Manager will help managers at all levels understand the principles of local-level performance assessment and improvement. It also presents the concept of essential public health functions as a useful policy framework for decentalizing service management while maintaining and improving the coverage and quality of services. [editor's description]

This issue of The Manager focuses mainly on leading changes in practices that improve health, rather than on overall strategic and structural change. The issue can help health managers work with a team as change agents to address community and organizational challenges that require a change in clinical or management practices.

This publication is an effort to respond to the different needs for capacity building in management and implementation of health programmes and delivery of essential services. It reflects the thinking acquired from experience working with health sector reforms being implemented in the African Region. The District Health Management Training modules cover the principles that are applicable across the Region and are meant to guide and strengthen the management capacity of district health management teams. [author's description]
Module 1: Health Sector Reform and District Health Systems; Module 2: Managment, Leadership and Partnership for District Health; Module 3: Managment of Health Resources; Module 4: Planning and Implementation of District Health Services.

Managing for Quality is a collaborative effort between Management Sciences for Health and UNICEF to develop a practical, useful and interactive resource that managers can use to improve quality in the many different types of health and family planning programs in which they work. Managing for Quality does not offer a fixed prescription or a magic bullet for improving quality, but rather a collection of concepts, tools, techniques, best practices, and experiences that we hope can be adapted and used in diverse settings, or creatively integrated to support existing quality improvement initiatives.

The Family Planning Manager's Handbook is a standard text in management training courses around the world and has received wide recognition as a practical guide for managers of health and family planning programs. [publisher's description]

This book contains a series of case studies which depict the management issues a family planning organization faces in designing and implementing a new community-based distribution (CBD) program for contraceptives. The cases, which take place in a fictional country Momonboro, are based on an actual program initiated in an African country, and reflect the problems and successes which that program experienced. The book is divided into seven sections: an overview of CBD, planning, effective management, supervision, compensation and pricing, financial control, and a start-up kit that serves as a guide through the major tasks of planning and implementing a CBD project.

This document summarises underlying evidence and issues related to good human resource management (HRM)in the health sector with reference to: (a) indicators of performance and measurement of nursing outcomes; (b) performance issues related to individuals and teams; and (c) employee engagement, commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). There are two key themes: What are the interventions and indicators associated with good HRM outcomes, and how can these be measured? [author's description]

The long-term objective of this paper is to galvanize action to ensure that all current and future health managers are well prepared to lead and manage to achieve results. With good preparation, they will be able to develop and manage the kind of health services that achieve health goals, reduce illness, and save lives. [author's description]

This brief note focuses on the management of sub-national [health] systems and services. It provides a simple framework for analysing current mangerial challenges; it summarises what is known about effective approaches to improve management and what returns from investing in these can be expected, and it outlines some directions for action by the international community. [from author]

This document is designed as a resource to support the 10 High Impact HR Changes as outlined in "A National Framework to Support Local Workforce Strategy Development." These include: support and lead effective change management; develop effective recruitment, good induction and supportive management; develop shared service models and effective use of IT; manage temporary staffing costs; promote staff health and manage sickness absence; promote job and service re-design; develop and implement appraisal; involve staff and work in partnership to develop good employee relations; champion good people management practices; and provide effective training and development.

This paper examines why building HR capacity is important to effective health care reform, assesses the existing evidence on HR capability in the health sector, and draws out lessons from existing practice. Developing HR capability requires investing in the training and development of both HR specialists and line managers/professionals with staff management responsibilities. It is vital that any investment in specialist HR capacity evaluates the different ways to deliver the HR function. To be effective the HR function must develop both an operational and a strategic HR capacity. [author's sum

The Management and Leadership (M&L) Program was designed to improve: the performance of leaders and managers; the performance of organizational and programmatic management systems; and the ability of organizations and programs to anticipate and respond effectively to the changing external environment. M&L works with teams, managers, and leaders in many settings from senior ministry officials to village health workers. Beneficiaries have been public sector employees, staff from donor organizations, hospital workers, elected officials, community leaders, and non-governmental (NGO) managers. All have a role in providing high quality family planning and other health services to women, children, and families.

This issue shows how managing and leading can be practiced at the same time by managers at all levels. It discusses effective leadership values and practices that exist around the world. It explains how managers can, individually and together, undertake leadership development. [editors' description]