Sub-Saharan Africa

To explore the key human resource (HR) practices affecting doctors in a medical complex in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. [from abstract]

This article analyses (1) how financial incentives (salary top-ups) and non-financial incentives (housing and education) affect nurses’ willingness to work in remote areas of Tanzania and (2) how the magnitude of the incentives needed to attract health workers varies with the nurses’ geographic origin and their intrinsic motivation. [from abstract]

“Community Based Education in Health Professions: Global Perspectives” presents a collection of case studies from Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Pakistan and South Africa describing different ways of planning, implementing and sustaining community-based education for health students. The case studies provide an account of what worked and what did not, the trials and errors, and the challenges and lessons learned. [adapted from introduction]

The social quality approach is a community-based approach for encouraging service recipients to get involved in the availability, use, and quality of health services. This report, based on Santenet2 project data, correlation analysis, and qualitative data collection, illustrates the implementation process, successes and essential components to the successful implementation of the social quality approach. [from executive summary]

Through interviews, researchers found Kenyan women medical clinical researchers shared similar motivations as US women but differed as well. Kenyan medical doctors pursued health research within a context of limited resources, but the ability to balance work and family while contributing to public health through research and leadership was highly valued. [adapted from abstract]

Despite the huge burden of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, there is little evidence of the multidimensional needs of patients with HIV infection to inform the person-centred care across physical, psychological, social and spiritual domains stipulated in policy guidance. We aimed to describe the problems experienced by people with HIV in Kenya and Uganda and the management of these problems by HIV outpatient services. [from abstract]

To promote organizational learning and action related to political will and accountability, leadership and management, technical capacity, organizational culture, human resources policies and programs that promote gender equality, non-discrimination, and equal opportunity and treatment with respect to recruitment, hiring, training, remuneration, conditions of work,and programming at Society for Family Health. [from abstract]

A multi-country study was conducted from 2007 to 2011 in 5 countries (Angola, Burundi, Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa), to assess the impact of GHIs on the health system, using a mixed methods design. This paper focuses on the impact of GFATM and PEPFAR on HRH policies. [from abstract]

This pilot study, which followed a convenience sample of 37 Ethiopian nationals enrolled in a spaced education course over a six-month period, attempted to determine the acceptability and effectiveness of the methodology in a low-resource context. [from abstract]

An assessment of existing preservice education of five medical laboratory schools, followed by remedial intervention and monitoring was conducted.[from abstract]

This paper reviews the literature on generalist and specialist community health workers (CHWs) to assess their potential for strengthening the delivery of adolescent health services. [from abstract]

This project aimed to meet the technical needs of Health Extension Workers and midwives in Ethiopia for maternal health using appropriate mobile technologies tools. [from introduction]

This paper reports an exploratory trial designed to test the effect of a low-cost training in-service training intervention for primary health care providers on: the rate of accurate routine clinic detection of mental disorder and recovery (improved health and social outcomes and quality of life) of clients. [adapted from author]

The authors sought to develop a healthcare employee satisfaction survey for use in hospitals and health centers throughout Ethiopia to improve retention of health care workers. [adapted from abstract]

This pilot study followed 37 Ethiopian nationals enrolled in a spaced education course over a six-month period, attempted to determine the acceptability and effectiveness of the electronic delivery methodology in a low-resource context. [adapted from abstract]

This document summarises the key components of the lay counsellors programme that have contributed to its success, such as careful recruitment practices and recognition of lay counsellors as valued members of health-care teams. Also highlighted are specific steps that support the use of people living with HIV as lay counsellors and parameters regarding how to monitor the impact of this work. [from summary]

This article outlines a study to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and cost-effectiveness of introducing rapid syphilis tests for same-day testing and treatment of syphilis at established prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) sites in Uganda. [from author]

The purpose of this document is to introduce the road map and highlight the key issues and challenges hindering the achievement of universal coverage of health care and relating to the human resources component of the health system. The document then sets forth a series of actions to be taken to overcome these challenges. [from author]

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-summary to identify factors affecting compliance among healthcare providers in Africa with clinical practice guidelines for pap screening to reduce cancer incidence and mortality. [adapted from abstract]

The goal of this research was to carry out a formative evaluation of the feasibility of strengthening pre-service laboratory education in partnership with local universities to ensure a skilled and well trained laboratory workforce for overall healthcare system strengthening. [from author]

The national Health Extension Program aims to provide universal access to primary health care services through more than 34,000 government-salaried female health extension workers. This article reports the effect of the project’s community-based newborn survival interventions on changes in maternal and newborn health care practices. [adapted from introduction]

This study aimed to highlight the shortcomings in knowledge, attitudes, and practices about infection control of recent graduates of clinical health sciences who started their one-year internship in Uganda so as to recommend areas in which infection control training could be improved. [adapted from author]

This study’s objectives were to investigate the implementation of tuberculosis (TB) infection control measures at primary healthcare facilities, the smear positive TB incidence rate amongst primary healthcare workers and the association between TB infection control measures and all types of TB in healthcare workers. [from abstract]

Health care associated infections are most commonly transmitted by the hands of Health care workers and other hospital personnel. Therefore, this study investigated compliance with hand hygiene guidelines and methods of hand hygiene practice among community health officers in Rivers State Nigeria. [adapted from abstract]

This article evaluates the cost effectiveness of facility-and home-based voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) utilizing community health workers with the primary outcome measure of extra cost per HIV sero-positive case identified to help for health service managers at primary care level in making decisions on suitable alternatives for VCT provision in rural communities in Uganda based on operational efficiency. [adapted from author]

Since the need for additional human resources for health (HRH) was not initially considered by Global Health Initiatives, countries implemented short-term HRH strategies to allow antiretroviral scale-up. Such strategies differed from one country to another and slowly evolved to long-term HRH policies. This study examines the processes and content of the resulting HRH policy shifts in 5 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. [adapted from abstract]

This paper reviews the literature on generalist and specialist community health workers to assess their potential for strengthening the delivery of adolescent health services. [from abstract]

This article evaluated how stock-outs of the first line antimalarial, medication and non-compliant health worker behavior influence household expenditures during care-seeking for fever in the Ulanga District in Tanzania.

This paper reports about knowledge and practices of traditional birth attendants on emergency obstetric care in a rural district of Tanzania and discusses policy implications on involving traditional birth attendants in maternal health services. [adapted from abstract]

This study aims to conceptualize the wider range of effects of task shifting through a systems thinking lens and to explore these effects using task shifting for HIV in Burkina Faso as a case study. [adapted from abstract]