Documents & Reports

Performance Improvement Recognition: Private Providers of Reproductive Health Services in Peru

While pay-for-performance incentives are frequently used in human resource management programs, there is less knowledge of alternative incentives for recognizing provider achievements in improving quality—especially in the private health sector. This report identifies which types of recognition mechanisms private providers prefer and provides recommendations for Peru and other countries on implementing a quality improvement program with a recognition component. [from abstract]

Filling the Gap: Lessons for Policymakers and Donors on Contracting Out Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services

Focusing on the demand-side (governments and donors) of contracting out with the private sector, the primer describes the concept of contracting out, discusses its rationale and process, and summarizes three cases of contracting out programs. [from summary]

HIV and Human Resources Challenges in Papua New Guinea: An Overview

The HIV epidemic in Papua New Guinea (PNG) presents major challenges, including significant human resources challenges. This report presents an overview of the available global literature on HIV and human resources, collates information on the workforce responses to HIV in PNG and highlights human resource issues specific to HIV in PNG. [from summary]

Role of Civil Society in Human Resources for Health

The overall objective of the report is to analyse the role of civil society engagement in enhancing the health service delivery in Nepal. Health service delivery is associated with the efficiency of human resource for health. [from author]

Working Conditions of the Health Workforce in Nepal

This report examines working conditions of health workers in Nepal in relation to income and incentives, work supplies and equipment, issues on safety and security and the role of local authorities and the community. [from summary]

Human Resources for Health Management from Central to District Level in Nepal

The report analyses the Ministry of Health and Population Human Resources for Health Management system in Nepal. It examines the main gaps in the human resources management system in the health sector and makes recommendations for viable mechanisms to strengthen the system. [from summary]

Health Workforce Performance and Accoutability (Availability, Competency, Responsiveness and Productivity)

This report provides insight into health workforce performance in Nepal, looking at the four dimensions of health workforce performance: availability, competency, responsiveness and productivity. It informs policy-makers and managers on interventions to improve health workforce performance in Nepal. [from summary]

Training, Recruitment, Placement and Retention of Health Professionals with an Emphasis on Public Private Partnership (PPP)

This report analyses the current situation of HRH training, recruitment, placement and retention in the health system of Nepal with an emphasis on role of public private partnership to address the HRH related gaps with suitable policy interventions. [from summary]

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]

User's Manual for Developing a Workload-Based Staffing Model in Egypt

This manual is a how-to guide to the workload indicators of staffing need (WISN) process and its implementation in Egypt. It provides a
step-by-step review of the WISN method and the calculations used in the analysis of the workforce to determine staffing needs. This guide is largely based on the Egyptian experience with the WHO methodology and how it was tailored to meet Egypt’s specific context and needs. [from introduction]

Reforming Nursing Education in Egypt: A Case Study in Reform Management

The case study outlines a program of nursing reform in Egypt to correct shortages and improve nursing quality by restructuring nursing education.

Capacity Building in Egypt: Management and Leadership Training at the Leadership Academy

This case study explores the development and impact of a training program to improve health sector management and leadership so that the ministry of health could become more efficient and provide the quality of services that the Egyptian population needed and demanded. [adapted from author]

Development of Workforce Activity Standards in Egypt

The purpose of this report is to discuss the process of developing health workforce activity standards in Egypt and its importance in estimating workforce requirements. The report describes the methodology used to develop and test these standards, as well as the challenges faced during the process and the lessons learned. [from introduction]

Selecting and Implementing Vendor Managed Inventory Systems for Public Health Supply Chains: A Guide for Public Sector Managers

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) systems have gained prominence in the private sector as a task shifting approach to strengthening supply chain performance. The authors present a public sector–specific definition of VMI and present a number of models of VMI systems that are applicable to the unique context of the public health sector in developing countries. [from abstract]

Hotline HRH September 2012

This edition of Hotline, an HRH newletter focused on the needs of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Africa, highlights resources, trainings and workshops, articles of interest and other information for FBO HRH pracitioners.

Keeping Up to Date: Continuing Professional Development for Health Workers in Developing Countries

Continuing professional development (CPD) encompasses all of the activities that health workers undertake—both formal and informal—to maintain, update, develop, and enhance their professional skills, knowledge, and attitudes. This technical brief summarizes the literature concerning current best practices and innovative ideas in CPD. [from author]

Human Resources Productivity Improvement in Zambia

This report summarizes key findings of a stakeholder-driven participatory productivity improvement process. The results of the study also shed light on which interventions may be most appropriate and effective for improving productivity within the Zambian context, and could be implemented on a wider scale within the country. [from summary]

Integrating Family Planning and HIV/AIDS Services: Health Workforce Considerations

Governments and the global health community are increasingly paying attention to maximizing and measuring impact through service delivery integration efforts in family planning/HIV service integration. This technical brief assesses the evidence on the role of health workers in the integration of family planning and HIV services and discusses key health worker considerations when integrating these services. [from publisher]

In Zimbabwe: Integrating Supply Chain Management into Pre-Service Training of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Nurses

This brief oulines an initiative to implement a pre-service training strategy for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses that is expected to strengthen in-country capacity to manage national supply chains and ensure uninterrupted access to essential health commodities. [adapted from author]

In Zambia: Building Sustainable Capacity through Pre-Service Supply Chain Training

This brief describes an intervention on training pre-service trainers that has helped provide graduating biomedical students with supply chain skills and reduce long-term in-service training costs. [adapted from author]

Key Points from the Human Resource Capacity in Public Health Supply Chain Management Country Assessments

This document summarizes the key finding from an assessment in eight countries to document the state of a country’s human resource capacity in supply chain management and workforce excellence efforts in public health supply chains. [adapted from author]

Highlights from the Global Survey for Public Health Logisticians

As part of the effort to better understand the issues, constraints, and opportunities related to workforce excellence in public health supply chain management, the People that Deliver Initiative conducted an online survey of public health logisticians working in the developing world. The findings from this online global Survey are presented in this highlights document

Healthcare Supply Chains in Developing Countries: Situational Analysis

This paper examines the current situation for healthcare supply chains in low- and/or middle-income countries, how the public and private healthcare supply chains in these countries are organized, and how they perform using some key availability and affordability indicators. [from abstract]

Preparing the Next Generation of Community Health Workers: The Power of Technology for Training

This extensive report gathered evidence and research to see if technology could be harnessed in transformative ways to address critical gaps in community health worker (CHW) training in Sub-Saharan Africa. It covers: the importance of CHW, current approaches to CHW training, emerging evidence and opportunities. [adapted from author]

Introducing Integrated Mobile Teams to Burundi: Technical Update

This update describes the development of a platform for delivery of essential health services in a post-conflict setting using integrated mobile teams of health workers consisting of MOH doctors, nurses, midwives, community health workers, and technicians, as well as community nutrition volunteers. [adapted from author]

Scale-Up of Task Shifting for Community-Based Provision of Impanon

This technical brief presents a project in Ethiopia focused on scaling-up efforts in underserved rural communities to enable access to long-acting family planning at the village level through task-shifting to Ethiopia’s health extension worker cadre. [adapted from author]

Community-Based Monitoring Programs in the Health Sector: A Literature Review

The purpose of this paper is to survey the literature on community monitoring projects that have attempted to improve health sector governance by promoting greater community involvement in monitoring and oversight of health service providers, to describe common features and shared challenges that these projects face, to identify existing gaps in knowledge and practice, and serve as an input to a broader discussion of the prospects for incorporation of community-based accountability mechanisms in performance-based incentive programs. [adapted from introduction]

Hotline HRH August 2012

This edition of Hotline, an HRH newletter focused on the needs of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Africa, highlights resources, trainings and workshops, articles of interest and other information for FBO HRH pracitioners.

Ensuring a Positive Practice Environment: Occupational Safety and Health for Health Worker Productivity

This technical brief illuminates the numerous hazards that health workers face on the job. The authors outline ways to make health workers’ safety a higher-level policy issue and show how to create working environments that prioritize occupational health. [adapted from publisher]