Articles

Time motion study using mixed methods to assess service delivery by frontline health workers from South India: methods

In India, amidst the increasing number of health programmes, there are concerns about the performance of frontline health workers (FLHW). We assessed the time utilisation and factors affecting the work of fron...

Authors: Samiksha Singh, Sanjeev Upadhyaya, Pradeep Deshmukh, Amol Dongre, Neha Dwivedi, Deepak Dey and Vijay Kumar

A survey of pharmacists’ perception of foundation level competencies in African countries

Evidence from published literature in pharmacy practice research demonstrate that the use of competency frameworks alongside standards of practice facilitate improvement in professional performance and aid exp...

Authors: Arit Udoh, Andreia Bruno and Ian Bates

Relationships between work outcomes, work attitudes and work environments of health support workers in Ontario long-term care and home and community care settings

Our overarching study objective is to further our understanding of the work psychology of Health Support Workers (HSWs) in long-term care and home and community care settings in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, ...

Authors: Whitney Berta, Audrey Laporte, Tyrone Perreira, Liane Ginsburg, Adrian Rohit Dass, Raisa Deber, Andrea Baumann, Lisa Cranley, Ivy Bourgeault, Janet Lum, Brenda Gamble, Kathryn Pilkington, Vinita Haroun and Paula Neves

Understanding nurses’ dual practice: a scoping review of what we know and what we still need to ask on nurses holding multiple jobs

Mounting evidence suggests that holding multiple concurrent jobs in public and private (dual practice) is common among health workers in low- as well as high-income countries. Nurses are world’s largest health...

Authors: Giuliano Russo, Inês Fronteira, Tiago Silva Jesus and James Buchan

Evaluation of health resource utilization efficiency in community health centers of Jiangsu Province, China

While the demand for health services keep escalating at the grass roots or rural areas of China, a substantial portion of healthcare resources remain stagnant in the more developed cities and this has entrench...

Authors: Xinglong Xu, Lulin Zhou, Henry Asante Antwi and Xi Chen

Cost-effectiveness of the treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition by community health workers compared to treatment provided at an outpatient facility in rural Mali

The Malian Nutrition Division of the Ministry of Health and Action Against Hunger tested the feasibility of integrating treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) into the existing Integrated Community Case ...

Authors: Eleanor Rogers, Karen Martínez, Jose Luis Alvarez Morán, Franck G. B. Alé, Pilar Charle, Saul Guerrero and Chloe Puett

Supportive supervision and constructive relationships with healthcare workers support CHW performance: Use of a qualitative framework to evaluate CHW programming in Uganda

While evidence supports community health worker (CHW) capacity to improve maternal and newborn health in less-resourced countries, key implementation gaps remain. Tools for assessing CHW performance and eviden...

Authors: Teralynn Ludwick, Eleanor Turyakira, Teddy Kyomuhangi, Kimberly Manalili, Sheila Robinson and Jennifer L. Brenner

Factors influencing turnover intention among primary care doctors: a cross-sectional study in Chongqing, China

The intention to leave a job, known as turnover intention, among primary care doctors has a significant impact on primary health care service delivery. We investigated primary care doctors’ turnover intention ...

Authors: Tong Wen, Yan Zhang, Xue Wang and Guo Tang

Mapping educational opportunities for healthcare workers on antimicrobial resistance and stewardship around the world

Antimicrobial resistance is an important global issue facing society. Healthcare workers need to be engaged in solving this problem, as advocates for rational antimicrobial use, stewards of sustainable effecti...

Authors: Susan Rogers Van Katwyk, Sara L. Jones and Steven J. Hoffman

A review of characteristics and outcomes of Australia’s undergraduate medical education rural immersion programs

A key strategy for increasing the supply of rural doctors is rurally located medical education. In 2000, Australia introduced a national policy to increase rural immersion for undergraduate medical students. T...

Authors: Belinda G. O’Sullivan, Matthew R. McGrail, Deborah Russell, Helen Chambers and Laura Major

Microeconomic institutions and personnel economics for health care delivery: a formal exploration of what matters to health workers in Rwanda

Most developing countries face important challenges regarding the quality of health care, and there is a growing consensus that health workers play a key role in this process. Our understanding as to what are ...

Authors: Pieter Serneels and Tomas Lievens

The effects of workplace respect and violence on nurses’ job satisfaction in Ghana: a cross-sectional survey

Studies have established the negative effects of workplace disrespect and violence on the personal and professional well-being of nurses. In spite of this, only a few have directly investigated the effects of ...

Authors: Isaac Mensah Boafo

Forecasting imbalances in the global health labor market and devising policy responses

The High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth released its report to the United Nations Secretary-General in September 2016. It makes important recommendations that are based on estimates ...

Authors: Richard M. Scheffler, James Campbell, Giorgio Cometto, Akiko Maeda, Jenny Liu, Tim A. Bruckner, Daniel R. Arnold and Tim Evans

Workforce patterns in the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in Côte d’Ivoire: a qualitative model

Côte d’Ivoire continues to struggle with one of the highest rates of mother-to-child HIV transmission in West Africa, previously thought to be in part due to suboptimal workforce patterns. This study aimed to ...

Authors: Brianne H. Rowan, Julia Robinson, Adam Granato, Claire Konan Bla, Seydou Kouyaté, Guy Vincent Djety, Kouamé Abo, Ahoua Koné and Stephen Gloyd

An analysis of the global pharmacy workforce capacity trends from 2006 to 2012

Human resources for health are at a critical low. The World Health Organization estimates that the current shortage of health workers, including pharmacists, is in excess of 7.2 million worldwide and that, by ...

Authors: Ian Bates, Christopher John, Priyanka Seegobin and Andreia Bruno

Improving local health through community health workers in Cambodia: challenges and solutions

Volunteer community health workers (CHWs) are an important link between the public health system and the community. The ‘Community Participation Policy for Health’ in Cambodia identifies CHWs as key to local h...

Authors: Kim Ozano, Padam Simkhada, Khem Thann and Rose Khatri

Hospital pharmacy workforce in Brazil

This study aims to describe the distribution of the hospital pharmacy workforce in Brazil.

Authors: Thiago R. Santos, Jonathan Penm, André O. Baldoni, Lorena Rocha Ayres, Rebekah Moles and Cristina Sanches

Experiences and perceptions of online continuing professional development among clinicians in sub-Saharan Africa

Limitations in healthcare worker (HCW) capacity compound the burden of dual TB and HIV epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. To fill gaps in knowledge and skills, effective continuing profession development (CPD) i...

Authors: Caryl Feldacker, Sheena Jacob, Michael H. Chung, Anya Nartker and H. Nina Kim

The current situation of human resources for health in the province of Cabinda in Angola: is it a limitation to provide universal access to healthcare?

Angola is among sub-Saharan African countries dealing with a crisis of Human Resources for Health (HRH). The province of Cabinda, besides the efforts, still suffers from both HRH shortage and a badly distribut...

Authors: Damas Macaia and Luís Velez Lapão

The consequences of Ireland’s culture of medical migration

In recent years, Ireland has experienced a large-scale, outward migration of doctors. This presents a challenge for national policy makers and workforce planners seeking to build a self-sufficient medical work...

Authors: Niamh Humphries, Sophie Crowe, Cian McDermott, Sara McAleese and Ruairi Brugha

Health system's response for physician workforce shortages and the upcoming crisis in Ethiopia: a grounded theory research

A rapid transition from severe physician workforce shortage to massive production to ensure the physician workforce demand puts the Ethiopian health care system in a variety of challenges. Therefore, this stud...

Authors: Tsion Assefa, Damen Haile Mariam, Wubegzier Mekonnen and Miliard Derbew

Human Resource Information System implementation readiness in the Ethiopian health sector: a cross-sectional study

Health workforce information systems in low-income countries tend to be defective with poor relationship to information sources. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is currently in a pilot implementation ...

Authors: Eyilachew Dilu, Measho Gebreslassie and Mihiretu Kebede

Age-related differences in working hours among male and female GPs: an SMS-based time use study

In several countries, the number of hours worked by general practitioners (GPs) has decreased, raising concern about current and impending workforce shortages. This shorter working week has been ascribed both ...

Authors: Daniël van Hassel, Lud van der Velden, Dinny de Bakker and Ronald Batenburg

Human resource for health reform in peri-urban areas: a cross-sectional study of the impact of policy interventions on healthcare workers in Epworth, Zimbabwe

The need to understand how healthcare worker reform policy interventions impact health personnel in peri-urban areas is important as it also contributes towards setting of priorities in pursuing the universal ...

Authors: Bernard Hope Taderera, Stephen James Heinrich Hendricks and Yogan Pillay

The effects of austerity measures on quality of healthcare services: a national survey of physicians in the public and private sectors in Portugal

The European Union member countries reacted differently to the 2008 economic and financial crisis. However, few countries have monitored the outcomes of their policy responses, and there is therefore little ev...

Authors: Tiago Correia, Graça Carapinheiro, Helena Carvalho, José Manuel Silva and Gilles Dussault

Assessing the precision of a time-sampling-based study among GPs: balancing sample size and measurement frequency

Our research is based on a technique for time sampling, an innovative method for measuring the working hours of Dutch general practitioners (GPs), which was deployed in an earlier study. In this study, 1051 GP...

Authors: Daniël van Hassel, Lud van der Velden, Dinny de Bakker, Lucas van der Hoek and Ronald Batenburg

The implication of the shortage of health workforce specialist on universal health coverage in Kenya

Globally, there is an acute shortage of human resources for health (HRH), and the greatest burden is borne by low-income countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa and some parts of Asia. This shortage has not...

Authors: Mumbo Hazel Miseda, Samuel Odhiambo Were, Cirindi Anne Murianki, Milo Peter Mutuku and Stephen N. Mutwiwa

Assessing the health workforce implications of health policy and programming: how a review of grey literature informed the development of a new impact assessment tool

In their adoption of WHA resolution 69.19, World Health Organization Member States requested all bilateral and multilateral initiatives to conduct impact assessments of their funding to human resources for hea...

Authors: Andrea Nove, Giorgio Cometto and James Campbell

Managing intra-EU mobility—do WHO principles of ethical recruitment have relevance?

The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel provides for guidance in health workforce management and cooperation in the international context. This article aims to exam...

Authors: Réka Kovács, Edmond Girasek, Eszter Kovács, Zoltán Aszalós, Edit Eke, Károly Ragány, Zoltán Cserháti and Miklós Szócska

Bridging the human resource gap in surgical and anesthesia care in low-resource countries: a review of the task sharing literature

Task sharing, the involvement of non-specialists (non-physician clinicians or non-specialist physicians) in performing tasks originally reserved for surgeons and anesthesiologists, can be a potent strategy in ...

Authors: Tigistu Ashengo, Alena Skeels, Elizabeth J. H. Hurwitz, Eric Thuo and Harshad Sanghvi

Correction to: a comparison of physician emigration from Africa to the United States of America between 2005 and 2015

Authors: Robbert J. Duvivier, Vanessa C. Burch and John R. Boulet

Family effects on the rurality of GP’s work location: a longitudinal panel study

Reduced opportunities for children’s schooling and spouse’s/partner’s employment are identified internationally as key barriers to general practitioners (GPs) working rurally. This paper aims to measure longit...

Authors: Matthew R. McGrail, Deborah J. Russell and Belinda G. O’Sullivan

Is there a financial incentive to immigrate? Examining of the health worker salary gap between India and popular destination countries

International migration is one of the factors resulting in the shortage of Human Resources for Health (HRH) in India. Literature suggests that migration is fuelled by the prospect of higher salaries available ...

Authors: Gavin George and Bruce Rhodes

Opportunities for human resources for health and rehabilitation: a response to Jesus et al.

We welcome Jesus et al.’s paper, which makes an important contribution to the under-researched area of the physical rehabilitation workforce. The authors present recommendations to “advance a policy and resear...

Authors: Jessica Power, Joanne McVeigh, Brynne Gilmore and Malcolm MacLachlan

One Health/EcoHealth capacity building programs in South and South East Asia: a mixed method rapid systematic review

Although One Health (OH) or EcoHealth (EH) have been acknowledged to provide comprehensive and holistic approaches to study complex problems, like zoonoses and emerging infectious diseases, there remains multi...

Authors: Pranab Chatterjee, Abhimanyu Singh Chauhan, Jessy Joseph and Manish Kakkar

Perspectives and experiences of community health workers in Brazilian primary care centers using m-health tools in home visits with community members

Mobile health (m-health) tools are a promising strategy to facilitate the work of community health workers (CHWs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite their potential value, little is known abo...

Authors: Julia Schoen, John William Mallett, Rebecca Grossman-Kahn, Alexandra Brentani, Elizabeth Kaselitz and Michele Heisler

Factors influencing trainee doctor emigration in a high income country: a mixed methods study

The Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel focuses particularly on migration of doctors from low- and middle-income countries. Less is understood about migration from high...

Authors: Nicholas Clarke, Sophie Crowe, Niamh Humphries, Ronan Conroy, Simon O’Hare, Paul Kavanagh and Ruairi Brugha

A study of human resource competencies required to implement community rehabilitation in less resourced settings

It is estimated that over one billion persons worldwide have some form of disability. However, there is lack of knowledge and prioritisation of how to serve the needs and provide opportunities for people with ...

Authors: Brynne Gilmore, Malcolm MacLachlan, Joanne McVeigh, Chiedza McClean, Stuart Carr, Antony Duttine, Hasheem Mannan, Eilish McAuliffe, Gubela Mji, Arne H. Eide, Karl-Gerhard Hem and Neeru Gupta

Human resources for health in Peru: recent trends (2007–2013) in the labour market for physicians, nurses and midwives

Most analyses of gaps in human resources for health (HRH) do not consider training and the transition of graduates into the labour market. This study aims to explore the labour market for Peru’s recent medical...

Authors: M. Michelle Jimenez, Anthony L. Bui, Eduardo Mantilla and J. Jaime Miranda

Improving the performance of community health workers in Swaziland: findings from a qualitative study

The performance of community health workers (CHWs) in Swaziland has not yet been studied despite the existence of a large national CHW program in the country. This qualitative formative research study aimed to...

Authors: Pascal Geldsetzer, Jan-Walter De Neve, Chantelle Boudreaux, Till Bärnighausen and Thomas J. Bossert

Physicians’ perceptions on the impact of telemedicine on recruitment and retention in underserved areas: a descriptive study in Senegal

Similar to many places, physicians in Senegal are unevenly distributed. Telemedicine is considered a potential solution to this problem. This study investigated the perceptions of Senegal’s physicians of the i...

Authors: Birama Apho Ly, Ivy Lynn Bourgeault, Ronald Labonté and Mbayang Ndiaye Niang

Professional fulfillment and parenting work-life balance in female physicians in Basic Sciences and medical research: a nationwide cross-sectional survey of all 80 medical schools in Japan

In Japan, the field of Basic Sciences encompasses clinical, academic, and translational research, as well as the teaching of medical sciences, with both an MD and PhD typically required. In this study, it was ...

Authors: Yuka Yamazaki, Takanori Uka and Eiji Marui

Forecasting the regional distribution and sufficiency of physicians in Japan with a coupled system dynamics—geographic information system model

In Japan, the shortage of physicians has been recognized as a major medical issue. In our previous study, we reported that the absolute shortage will be resolved in the long term, but maldistribution among spe...

Authors: Tomoki Ishikawa, Kensuke Fujiwara, Hisateru Ohba, Teppei Suzuki and Katsuhiko Ogasawara

The impact of the advanced practice nursing role on quality of care, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost in the emergency and critical care settings: a systematic review

The prevalence of chronic illness and multimorbidity rises with population aging, thereby increasing the acuity of care. Consequently, the demand for emergency and critical care services has increased. However...

Authors: Brigitte Fong Yeong Woo, Jasmine Xin Yu Lee and Wilson Wai San Tam

The impact of austerity on the health workforce and the achievement of human resources for health policies in Ireland (2008–2014)

The global economic crisis saw recessionary conditions in most EU countries. Ireland’s severe recession produced pro-cyclical health spending cuts. Yet, human resources for health (HRH) are the most critical o...

Authors: Des Williams and Steve Thomas

Job satisfaction and turnover intentions among health care staff providing services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Option B+ for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV (i.e., lifelong antiretroviral treatment for all pregnant and breastfeeding mothers living with HIV) was initiated in Tanzania in 201...

Authors: Helga Naburi, Phares Mujinja, Charles Kilewo, Nicola Orsini, Till Bärnighausen, Karim Manji, Gunnel Biberfeld, David Sando, Pascal Geldsetzer, Guerino Chalamila and Anna Mia Ekström

Understanding the factors affecting the attraction and retention of health professionals in rural and remote areas: a mixed-method study in Niger

The critical shortage of human resources in health is a critical public health problem affecting most low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to the shortage of health...

Authors: Loubna Belaid, Christian Dagenais, Mahaman Moha and Valéry Ridde

Performance of community health workers: situating their intermediary position within complex adaptive health systems

Health systems are social institutions, in which health worker performance is shaped by transactional processes between different actors.

Authors: Maryse C. Kok, Jacqueline E. W. Broerse, Sally Theobald, Hermen Ormel, Marjolein Dieleman and Miriam Taegtmeyer

The impact of a supportive supervision intervention on health workers in Niassa, Mozambique: a cluster-controlled trial

Regular supportive supervision is critical to retaining and motivating staff in resource-constrained settings. Previous studies have shown the particular contribution that supportive supervision can make to im...

Authors: Tavares Madede, Mohsin Sidat, Eilish McAuliffe, Sergio Rogues Patricio, Ogenna Uduma, Marie Galligan, Susan Bradley and Isabel Cambe

The impact of a human resource management intervention on the capacity of supervisors to support and supervise their staff at health facility level

A systematic and structured approach to the support and supervision of health workers can strengthen the human resource management function at the district and health facility levels and may help address the c...

Authors: Ogenna Uduma, Marie Galligan, Henry Mollel, Honorati Masanja, Susan Bradley and Eilish McAuliffe