Browse by Geographic Focus

Gaps in the midwifery tutors’ knowledge on comprehensive abortion care (CAC) have resulted in most midwives in Ghana not knowing the legal indications under which safe abortion care can be provided, and lacking the skills and competencies for CAC services. The aim of this study is to assess the capacity and willingness of midwifery tutors to teach contraception, post abortion care and legal termination in Ghana. [from abstract]

The aim of this study was to examine the frequency and consequences of aggressive behaviour towards nurses and health care workers in different health sectors in Germany and to assess the need for preventive measures. [from abstract]

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]

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.

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]

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]

Paying for performance (P4P) provides financial incentives for providers to increase the use and quality of care. This paper evaluates the impact of P4P on the use and quality of prenatal, institutional delivery, and child preventive care using data produced from a prospective quasi-experimental evaluation nested into the national rollout of P4P in Rwanda. [from abstract]

The focus of this study is to assess the level of migration expectation among health care professionals and to determine some of the factors which have pushed - and are likely to continue to push - them to seek employment outside Ghana. [from introduction]

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]

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]

The need for documenting how the AIDS epidemic is affecting the health care personnel has long been recognized. In the specific case of Tanzania which already has a Health Sector HIV/AIDS Strategy it is imperative to have information on how the health system and the health personnel who are expected to spearhead the implementation of that strategy are being affected. This can guide preventive and remedial measures to ensure that the capacity of the system and its personnel for the effective implementation of the Strategy is not unduly compromised. [from author]

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]

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]

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]

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]

In 2008, Malawi piloted the distribution of depo-medroxy progesterone acetate (DMPA), an injectable contraceptive, to the community by Health Surveillance Assistants. This report presents lessons learned during the initial implementation, from gaining stakeholder buy-in to curriculum development, and the initial three months after the training and implementation roll-out. [from abstract]

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]

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

This article describes human resources in nursing and the role and status of nurses within the health care system. It also deals with government measures and the foreseeable impact on nursing and health care services. [adapted from introduction]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

This report documents the efficiency of the Learning for Performance approach in the implementation of new pre-service reproductive health/family planning and child health training modules aimed at local health technicians working in Northern Mali. [adapted from introduction]

The Capacity Project used the Learning for Performance (LFP) approach to develop the family planning (FP), HIV/AIDS and gender components included in the competency-based A1 nursing and midwifery pre-service curricula. LFP was also used to adapt the Rwanda national FP curriculum to an on-the-job training approach. This study documents the implementation of the and the lessons learned from its application in preservice education and in-service training in Rwanda. [from summary]