Deployment

How to Conduct a Discrete Choice Experiment for Health Workforce Recruitment and Retention in Remote and Rural Areas: A User Guide with Case Studies

This guide aims to provide easy-to-read information and step-by-step advice on a quantitative research method that can help identify appropriate policy responses to health workforce shortages in remote and rural areas. It uses two case studies to illustrate the challenges and the ways to overcome them in conducting the work. [from author]

Redistributive Effects of the National Health Insurance on Physicians in Taiwan: A Natural Experiment Time Series Study

This study examines the effects of implementing national health insurance on the problem of geographic maldistribution of health providers in Taiwan. [from abstract]

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Human Resources Policy Interventions to Address the Shortage of Nurses in Rural South Africa

Recent policy recommendations have called for increased research efforts to inform the design of cost-effective interventions to address the shortage of health workers in rural areas. This paper takes forward the recent use of discrete choice experiments to assess the effects of potential incentives to attract nurses to rural areas. [from abstract]

Job Preferences of Nurses and Midwives for Taking Up a Rural Job in Peru: A Discrete Choice Experiment

A discrete choice experiment was conducted to evaluate the job preferences of nurses and midwives currently working on a short-term contract in the public sector in Ayacucho, Peru to assess factors that would attract short-term contract nurses and midwives to work in a rural area of Peru. [adapted from abstract]

Nourishing Networks: An Interprofessional Learning Model and Its Application to the Australian Rural Health Workforce

This article describes a model for interprofessional learning developed to address the barriers related to the delivery of interprofessional education in the rural health setting in Australia across a number of health disciplines. [adapted from abstract]

First Steps Towards Interprofessional Health Practice in Tanzania: An Educational Experiment in Rural Bagamoyo District

In this article, the authors describe a pilot program developed by a Tanzania university to train its professional students (dentists, doctors, environmental health officers, nurses, and pharmacists) to work collaboratively with each other and with other health staff at the district level to be sure that staff have the specific skills needed to work in rural districts. [adapted from abstract]

Retention of the Rural Allied Health Workforce in New South Wales: A Comparison of Public and Private Practitioners

Policy initiatives to improve retention of the rural health workforce have relied primarily on evidence for rural doctors, most of whom practice under a private business model. Much of the literature for rural allied health (AH) workforce focuses on the public sector. This study explores sector differences in factors affecting retention of rural AH professionals. [from abstract]

Case Study of the Counterpart Technical Support Policy to Improve Rural Health Services in Beijing

This study systematically evaluated a program to improve rural health services and reduce inequality in urban and rural services by requiring urban doctors to spend time in rural hospitals. The evaluation assessed changes over time in hospital performance and the rural-urban performance gap. [adapted from abstract]

Assessment of Factors Influencing Retention in the Philippine National Rural Physician Deployment Program

In response to the shortage of doctors in remote communities, the Philippines began a progrom to attract physicians to work in such areas for a prescribed 2-year period, but ongoing monitoring shows that very few chose to remain there for longer. This assessment was carried out to explore the reasons for the low retention rates and to propose possible strategies to reverse the trend. [adapted from abstract]

Experiences, Opportunities and Challenges of Implementing Task Shifting in Underserved Remote Settings: The Case of Kongwa District, Central Tanzania

The aim of this was to describe the current situation of implementing task shifting in the context of acute shortages of health workers and, secondly, and to provide a descriptive account of the potential opportunities or benefits and the likely challenges which might ensue as a result of implementing task shifting. [adapted from abstract]

Stakeholder Perceptions of a Nurse Led Walk-In Centre

This study aimed to ascertain the views of key stakeholders on the introduction of a nurse led primary care walk-in center in a rural region of Australia that aimed to fulfill an unmet health care need in the community due to the shortage of general practitioners, meet projected demand for health care services and relieve pressure on the hospital system. [adapted from abstract[

Distribution and Skill Mix of Human Resources for Health in Nepal

The Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal has identified major challenges in human resources for health, specifically in the shortage, distribution and skill mix of health workers in the country. This report aims to provide insight into specific challenges and policy recommendations for the ministry and concerned stakeholders. [from summary]

Policy Options to Attract Nurses to Rural Liberia: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment

A discrete choice experiment was used to test how nurses and certified midwives in Liberia would respond to alternative policies being considered by the ministry of health and social welfare to predict the share of nurses and certified midwives who would accept a job in a rural area under different schemes. [from abstract]

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]

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]

Realist Review and Synthesis of Retention Studies for Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas

This report uses a realist review, which is a theory-based method, to address the questions of why and how certain rural retention interventions work better in some contexts and fail in others. The report provides strong support for the assertion that a bundle of retention strategies should be used in order to successfully attract and retain health workers in remote and rural areas and provides insight into why interventions that were effective in one setting may or may not produce similar results in another. [adapted from preface]

Student Perception about Working in Rural Nepal after Graduation: A Study among First and Second Year Medical Students

The present study was conducted at KIST Medical College, a private school in the Lalitpur district, to obtain information on student perceptions about working in rural Nepal after graduation. [adapted from abstract]

Medical Student Characteristics Predictive of Intent for Rural Practice

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of student characteristics previously correlated to choosing rural practice on osteopathic medical students’ intent to practice in a rural setting. [from abstract]

Attitudes of Undergraduate Medical Students of Addis Ababa University Towards Medical Practice and Migration, Ethiopia

This study was carried out to assess the attitudes of Ethiopian medical students towards their training and future practice of medicine, and to identify factors associated with the intent to practice in rural or urban settings, or to migrate abroad. [from abstract]

Medical Students' Choices of Speciality in the Gambia: The Need for Career Counselling

This cross-sectional survey was conducted on consenting students of the first medical school in Gambia to help understand preferences for specialties by medical students, and the factors driving choices, to assist policy makers in ensuring optimal spread of personnel across disciplines. [adapted from abstract]

Monitoring Inequalities in the Health Workforce: The Case Study of Brazil 1991-2005

Using the case of Brazil, the authors measure changes in inequalities in the distribution of the health workforce and account for the sources of inequalities at sub-national level to identify whether policies have been effective in decreasing inequalities and increasing the density of health workers in the poorest areas between 1991 and 2005. [from abstract]

Medical Students' Characteristics as Predictors of Career Practice Location: Retrospective Cohort Study Tracking Graduates of Nepal's First Medical College

The objective of this study was to determine, in one low income country (Nepal), which characteristics of medical students are associated with graduate doctors staying to practise in the country or in its rural areas. [from abstract]

Does the Positive Influence of an Undergraduate Rural Placement Persist into Postgraduate Years?

The purpose of this study was to test whether or not the effects of a seven week rural undergraduate placement for medical students (which showed positive influence on student attitudes to rural health and their intention to practise in a rural settings) persisted into postgraduate years. [adapted from abstract]

Challenges Confronting Clinicians in Rural Acute Care Settings: A Participatory Research Project

The major aims of this study were to better understand the challenges faced by rural acute care clinicians and the impact of these challenges on their capacity to carry out their roles. A secondary aim was to explore and prioritise strategies to address selected challenges. [from introduction]

Issues Affecting Therapist Workforce and Service Delivery in the Disability Sector in Rural and Remote New South Wales, Australia: Perspectives of Policy-Makers, Managers and Senior Therapist

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study of therapist workforce and service delivery in the disability sector in rural and remote Australia. The aim was to investigate issues of importance to policy-makers, managers and therapists providing services to people with disabilities in rural and remote areas. [from abstract]

Rural Nursing Education: A Photovoice Perspective

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of the innovative research approach called photovoice as an educational strategy to foster learning about and interest in rural locations and rural nursing as future practice settings. [from abstract]

Characteristics of Physicians, Their Migration Patterns and Distance: A Longitudinal Study in Hiroshima, Japan

The authors analyzed the flow of all the clinical physicians in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, with particular attention to migration to rural and distant places to determine effective workforce policies for rural and remote areas. [adapted from introduction]

Perceived Barriers and Motivating Factors Influencing Student Midwives' Acceptance of Rural Postings in Ghana

The objectives of this study are to determine the perceived barriers and motivators influencing final year midwifery students’ acceptance of rural postings in Ghana. [from abstract]

What Impedes Working in Rural Areas? A Study of Aspiring Doctors In the National Capital Region, India

This study examined the attitudes of and inclination to rural healthcare careers among medical students in India. [from abstract]