Healthcare Professionals In Africa Research Articles

Prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 in Africa: umbrella review of existing meta-analyses

Introduction In Africa, healthcare professionals experienced various mental health problems during COVID-19. However, very little was done on the extensive evidence regarding mental disorders. The purpose of this umbrella review is to provide comprehensive data on the prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Materials and Methods Systematic searches of databases African Journals Online, MedRxiv, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used to identify studies from the occurrence of COVID-19 from December 2019 to March 2023 were included. To pool the gathered data for results with a 95% confidence interval (CI), DerSimonian-Laird random effects meta-analysis was used. For heterogeneity examination, I2 was used. The quality assessment was evaluated by using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist. Results A total of five studies reported the prevalence of depression, the pooled prevalence was 53.75% (95% CI [40.80–66.70], I2 = 63.6%, p = 0.027). In a total of four studies, the pooled prevalence of anxiety was 49.97% (95% CI [34.71–65.23], I2 = 71.26%, p = 0.014). From a total of two studies, the pooled prevalence of stress was 57.27% (95% CI [42.28–72.25], I2 = 58.9%, p = 0.119). From a total of four studies, the pooled prevalence of insomnia was 45.16% (95% CI [32.94–57.39], I2 = 50.8%, p = 0.107). Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic highly affects the mental health of healthcare professionals in Africa. Stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms were representing the most common based on evidences from existing meta-analyses. This evidence can help experts when executing specific interventions that address mental health problems among healthcare professionals during future public health crises.

Implementation and insights from the MedXMentor structured mentorship program for undergraduate health science students at Mbarara University, Uganda

BackgroundMentorship is essential for education and career development in health-related fields, yet Sub-Saharan African universities often lack structured programs. To address this, the MedXMentor program was established at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) to provide structured mentorship to undergraduate health sciences students in Uganda. This paper outlines insights gained from implementing the MedXMentor hybrid mentorship program.MethodsUsing a mixed-methods approach, the study employed the Kirkpatrick Model of Evaluation to assess mentees’ reactions, learning, behavior, and goal achievement. Data were collected via Google Form surveys, feedback forms, mentoring logs, and session attendance records. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis provided a comprehensive understanding of the program’s impact.ResultsThe program served 80 mentees, with 48 participating in one-on-one mentorship and 32 in group sessions. It enlisted 24 mentors, mainly from the medical field. Between April and September 2022, eight online group sessions were held, with an average attendance rate of 52%. These sessions focused on project planning, grant writing, and soft skills development, resulting in improved mentee comprehension and skill acquisition. Mentees reported an enhanced understanding of project planning, grant writing, communication, leadership, and teamwork. Their experiences were categorized into four themes: Mentor Engagement, Goal-Oriented Study, Skills and Professional Development, and High-Yield Mentor–Mentee Engagements.Conclusion and recommendationsImplementing the MedXMentor program proved effective in providing crucial mentorship and equipping students with vital academic and professional skills. The program highlighted its potential to bridge the mentorship gap in low-resource settings. By empowering future healthcare professionals in Africa, MedXMentor exemplifies how mentorship initiatives can drive significant advancements in healthcare education and practice.

Implementation strategy for advanced practice nursing in Gabon: A multicenter mixed-method study.

To describe the expectations, acceptability, and challenges identified by nurses and key healthcare stakeholders regarding the implementation of advanced practice nursing in Gabon. Advanced practice nursing presents an opportunity to address the epidemiological transition and the shortage of healthcare professionals in Africa. In anticipation of establishing a master's degree program in advanced practice nursing and its subsequent implementation, it is important to understand Gabon's specific needs and characteristics. This study used a multicenter cross-sectional mixed-method design. From April to May 2022, a total of 187 healthcare professionals were included from two hospitals and two universities in Gabon. Data were collected through questionnaires and complemented by focus group discussions, guided by the existing literature, the PEPPA framework, and Hamric's model. The implementation of advanced practice nursing was generally well accepted. Factors influencing acceptability included being female, awareness of advanced practice nursing, and supporting the role of advanced practice nurses in diagnosing chronic diseases. Barriers to implementation included the absence of a legal framework for the profession and a lack of recognition of nursing skills by both nurses and doctors. Facilitators included the establishment of a master's degree program, formalization of a legal framework, raising awareness, providing training to medical doctors and other healthcare professionals about advanced practice nursing, and the development of nursing leadership. Advanced practice nursing can play a crucial role in addressing healthcare resource shortages and the dual burden of chronic and infectious diseases in Gabon, as well as in other African countries. To successfully implement advanced practice nursing in Gabon and French-speaking Africa, it is essential to regulate the nursing and advanced nursing professions by creating a legal framework and establishing nursing councils. An effective implementation strategy for advanced practice nurses should be based on the specific needs of the country. COREQ, STROBE.

Mental health problems among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 in Africa: a protocol for umbrella review

IntroductionCOVID-19 pandemic is a global health problem. In Africa, healthcare professionals face mental health problems due to COVID-19. But little was done on the prevalence of mental disorders among healthcare...

Advocacy for patients with headache disorders.

Primary headache disorders are worldwide highly prevalent and burdensome and should be therefore considered as a global public health priority. However, too many patients with primary headache disorders still do not receive satisfying care. The most likely identified reasons for such a scenario - lack of public awareness, stigma, lack of trained professionals with inadequate healthcare systems and policies - are remediable. Despite the progresses that were made in headache advocacy, these efforts have not yielded substantial improvements in research funding or access to specialty care and even standards of care. The situation is more complex in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) where headache advocacy is urgently needed given the magnitude of the difficulties that patients with primary headache disorders face in accessing care. The growing emergence of coordinated, collaborative, patient-centered advocacy efforts with improved patient-clinician partnership is an opportunity to enhance progress in advocacy for a satisfying life and optimal and equitable care for people with primary headache disorders. LMICs can benefit greatly from coordinating these efforts on a global scale. The recent organization of a training program on headache diagnosis and management for healthcare professionals in Africa is a concrete example.

Experiences of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Reported By Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) across Different Regions: International Sickle Cell World Assessment Survey (SWAY)

Experiences of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Reported By Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) across Different Regions: International Sickle Cell World Assessment Survey (SWAY)

Evidence synthesis workshops: moving from face-to-face to online learning

Postgraduate training is moving from face-to-face workshops or courses to online learning to help increase access to knowledge, expertise and skills, and save the cost of face-to-face training. However, moving...

Knowledge and Perceptions of Adverse Events Following Immunization among Healthcare Professionals in Africa: A Case Study from Ghana.

The spontaneous reporting of suspected adverse events following immunization (AEFI) by healthcare professionals (HCPs) is vital in monitoring post-licensure vaccine safety. The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and perceptions of AEFIs among healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Africa, using the situation in Ghana as a case study. The study was of a cross-sectional quantitative design, and was carried out from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 with doctors, pharmacists, and nurses as the study participants. A 28-item paper-based questionnaire, delivered by hand to study participants, was the data collection tool in the study. The study was conducted in 4 hospitals after ethical approval was granted. The desired sample size was 686; however, 453 consented to partake in the study. Data were analyzed using SPSS (software version 22, IBM, Armonk, NY, USA), and chi-square and binary logistic regression tests were used for tests of association between HCPs’ characteristics and their knowledge and perceptions. Detailed knowledge of AEFIs was ascertained with a set of 9 questions, with 8 or 9 correctly answered questions signifying high knowledge, 5 to 7 correctly answered questions signifying moderate knowledge, and below 5 correctly answered questions signifying low knowledge. A set of 10 questions also ascertained HCPs’ positive and negative perceptions of AEFI. Results revealed that knowledge of AEFIs was high in 49 (10.8%) participants, moderate in 213 (47.0%) participants, and low in 191 (42.2%) participants. There was no statistically significant correlation between AEFI knowledge and professions. The highest negative perception was the lack of desire to learn more about how to diagnose, report, investigate, and manage AEFI, whereas the lowest was the lack of belief that surveillance improves public trust in immunization programs. There was a general awareness of AEFIs among HCPs in this study. However, negative perceptions and the lack of highly knowledgeable HCPs regarding AEFIs were possible setbacks to AEFI diagnosis, management, prevention, and reporting. More training and sensitization of HCPs on AEFIs and vaccine safety will be beneficial in improving the situation. Future research should focus on assessing the training materials and methodology used in informing HCPs about AEFIs and vaccine safety.

Perspectives on Developing Healthcare Managers in Africa: The Strathmore Business School's Healthcare Management Programme.

A substantial shortage of qualified healthcare professionals in Africa continues, but it is now apparent that professionally trained healthcare managers are an equally important need. Health facilities in Africa typically promote physicians into the role of general manager, but physicians and their lay counterparts routinely admit to being ill-prepared for roles as leaders of health systems, healthcare facilities and other services. Few, if any, degree programmes for healthcare management—be they master's in hospital administration or specialized MBA programmes— are available in these regions. And while many master's in public health programmes exist, inclusion of healthcare management content is often an afterthought. This article presents a prototype programme that was designed to address this gap. This comprehensive healthcare management MBA programme that was established at the Business School of Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013 was built around the “Leadership Competencies for Health Care Managers” as promulgated by the International Hospital Federation. The article further presents the development, structure and innovations of the programme, thus providing a blueprint for the development of similar programmes throughout the continent, aimed at addressing the substantial shortage of professionally trained healthcare managers.

Healthcare professionals' level of medication knowledge in Africa: a systematic review.

AimsUnderstanding how much healthcare professionals (HCPs) know about medication can help in devising strategies to improve rational medication use. This study aimed to synthesize information on the level of medication knowledge of HCPs in Africa.MethodWe performed a systematic literature study in Embase and PubMed. We included original studies quantifying HCPs' medication knowledge, published between 2012 and 2016. We extracted disease focus, country, number and type of HCPs included and all medication‐related knowledge questions and scored the quality of papers. The outcome measure was the percentage of HCPs who correctly answered medication knowledge questions.ResultsWe identified 64 studies from 12 African countries, comprising 13 911 HCPs, mostly nurses/midwifes and physicians. We extracted 306 medication‐related knowledge questions, and only 52% (SD 28) of HCPs correctly answered them. Knowledge questions were mainly about medication prescribed for communicable diseases (70%), followed by non‐communicable diseases (11%), and family planning/gynaecology (10%). Most papers concluded that there was a considerable medication knowledge gap among HCPs.ConclusionWe found a low level of medication knowledge across different disease areas, countries and HCPs. This underlines the continuous need to strengthen the undergraduate and postgraduate education in (clinical) pharmacology and therapeutics in Africa.

Stroke care in Africa: A systematic review of the literature.

Background Appropriate systems of stroke care are important to manage the increasing death and disability associated with stroke in Africa. Information on existing stroke services in African countries is limited. Aim To describe the status of stroke care in Africa. Summary of review We undertook a systematic search of the published literature to identify recent (1 January 2006-20 June 2017) publications that described stroke care in any African country. Our initial search yielded 838 potential papers, of which 38 publications were eligible representing 14/54 African countries. Across the publications included for our review, the proportion of stroke patients reported to arrive at hospital within 3 h from stroke onset varied between 10% and 43%. The median time interval between stroke onset and hospital admission was 31 h. Poor awareness of stroke signs and symptoms, shortages of medical transportation, health care personnel, and stroke units, and the high cost of brain imaging, thrombolysis, and outpatient physiotherapy rehabilitation services were reported as major barriers to providing best-practice stroke care in Africa. Conclusions This review provides an overview of stroke care in Africa, and highlights the paucity of available data. Stroke care in Africa usually fell below the recommended standards with variations across countries and settings. Combined efforts from policy makers and health care professionals in Africa are needed to improve, and ensure access, to organized stroke care in as many settings as possible. Mechanisms to routinely monitor usual care (i.e., registries or audits) are also needed to inform policy and practice.

Equipping family physician trainees as teachers: a qualitative evaluation of a twelve-week module on teaching and learning.

BackgroundThere is a dire need to expand the capacity of institutions in Africa to educate health care professionals. Family physicians, as skilled all-rounders at district level, are potentially well placed to contribute to an extended training platform in this context. To play this role, they need to both have an understanding of their specialist role that incorporates teaching and be equipped for their role as trainers of current and future health workers and specialists. A teaching and learning capacity-building module was introduced into a new master’s programme in family medicine at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. We report on the influence of this module on graduates after the first six years.MethodsA qualitative study was undertaken, interviewing thirteen graduates of the programme. Thematic analysis of data was done by a team comprising tutors and graduates of the programme and an independent researcher. Ethical clearance was obtained.ResultsThe module influenced knowledge, skills and attitudes of respondents. Perceptions and evidence of changes in behaviour, changes in practice beyond the individual respondent and benefits to students and patients were apparent. Factors underlying these changes included the role of context and the role of personal factors. Contextual factors included clinical workload and opportunity pressure i.e., the pressure and responsibility to undertake teaching. Personal factors comprised self-confidence, modified attitudes and perceptions towards the roles of a family physician and towards learning and teaching, in addition to the acquisition of knowledge and skills in teaching and learning. The interaction between opportunity pressure and self-confidence influenced the application of what was learned about teaching.ConclusionsA module on teaching and learning influenced graduates’ perceptions of, and self-reported behaviour relating to, teaching as practicing family physicians. This has important implications for educating family physicians in and for Africa and indirectly on expanding capacity to educate health care professionals in Africa.

Developing clinical skills using a virtual patient simulator in a resource-limited setting.

to measure the effect of training with a virtual patient (VP) simulation system on clinical skills of healthcare professionals in Africa. A randomized controlled intervention was carried out at Yaounde Central Hospital (Cameroon). The intervention consisted of two groups training on one of the two clinical vignettes implemented in the VP simulator. Four actors were trained to play standardized patient (SP) roles. The clinical skills (performance score) of participants were assessed on both clinical vignettes using these SPs. Twenty medical students from FMSB were recruited. The difference in overall score was observed between participants who received training from the VP system (higher average) and those who did not receive the training (lower average). This difference is statistically significant, especially when the focus is on participants' scores in the relevant items for proper management of the case. This study suggests that the training with a medical consultation VP simulator can develop the operational clinical skills of the user.

A Labor Market Approach to the Crisis of Health Care Professionals in Africa

This paper adopts a labor market economics perspective to understanding the crisis of health care professionals in Africa. Five challenges resulting from this crisis are identified: a production challenge, an underutilization challenge, a distributional challenge, a performance challenge, and a financing challenge. Differences between the labor market approach and others used in the health field are noted. We conclude that more empirical data, a full labor market analysis, and the use of social benefit-cost criteria are all needed before policy recommendations to address any of these challenges can be confidently offered.

University partnership to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in Africa

The shortage of qualified health professionals is a major obstacle to achieving better health outcomes in many parts of the world, particularly in Africa. The role of health science universities in addressing this shortage is to provide quality education and continuing professional development opportunities for the healthcare workforce. Academic institutions in Africa, however, are also short of faculty and especially under-resourced. We describe the initial phase of an institutional partnership between the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) centred on promoting medical education at MUHAS. The challenges facing the development of the partnership include the need: (1) for new funding mechanisms to provide long-term support for institutional partnerships, and (2) for institutional change at UCSF and MUHAS to recognize and support faculty activities that are important to the partnership. The growing interest in global health worldwide offers opportunities to explore new academic partnerships. It is important that their development and implementation be documented and evaluated as well as for lessons to be shared.

HIV Online Provider Education (HOPE): The Internet as a Tool for Training in HIV Medicine

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment programs in resource-limited areas are expanding rapidly. Providing training and education to health care providers in these programs is a major challenge. We have employed Internet-based conferencing technology to conduct interactive case-based training conferences with health care professionals in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. This online program may be a model for other efforts to provide education to health care providers treating HIV-infected patients in the developing world.

Health Action AIDS Campaign

Health Action AIDS Campaign