Human Resources In Health Sector Research Articles

The solutions for developing health human resources in Ho Chi Minh City

This research paper addresses issues related to health, health care, human resources in health sector, characteristics of human resources for health, the need to develop a health workforce, analyzes criteria for evaluating human resources for health in terms of both quantity, quality and structure of human resources; the current situation of human resource development in the health sector in the Ho Chi Minh city from the perspective of quantity, quality and structure of human resources in the state, non-state, and foreign-invested sectors. From the analysis of the current situation of human resource development for health in the city, the author has assessed the situation of human resource development, shortcomings and limitations such as the size and quality of professional training. health care is not commensurate with the current socio-economic development, the salaries of doctors and nurses are still low and not commensurate with their efforts, especially in the public sector, brain drain,... and suggested recommendations and solutions such as expanding training scale and controlling training quality, ensuring human resource structure distributed by line, improving motivation for human resources. health care, investing in physical and technical infrastructure serving medical examination and treatment, improving the management capacity of the leadership team in order to develop human resources in the health sector in the coming period.

Spatial distribution and temporal trend of National Health System and Supplemental Health Sector human resources, Brazil, 2005-2016.

to analyze the spatial distribution and temporal trend of human resources for the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) and the Supplemental Health sector. an ecological study was conducted in the country's 27 Federative Units (FUs); SUS Information Technology Department (DATASUS) data were used relating to the doctor, dental surgeon, nurse and nursing technician personnel categories for the period 2005-2016; Prais-Winsten regression was used to assess the time trend. there was an rising trend of Supplemental Health Sector human resources in all personnel categories, with an mean annual increase of 0.054 (95%CI: 0.031;0.076); with regard to SUS, there was an increase in dental surgeons and nursing technicians, with annual increases of 0.008 (95%CI: 0.003;0.011), and 0.066 (95%CI 0.022; 0.087), respectively, while in most FU, nurses showed a stationary trend and doctors showed a stationary or falling trend. inequalities were found in human resource distribution, reflecting the health system crisis.

English

Today, many African countries are faced with enormous challenges of health service delivery; one of the arguments advanced for the persistent health service delivery malaise is the inadequate management of the health sector human resource. It should therefore be noted that performance management in the health sector has been paid lukewarm attention by both health resource managers. Performance management has increasingly become a prominent public sector reform in most of the developing countries given the fact that the people resource is a proactive resource in most of the organizations. The paper used a case study as a methodology. The major findings were that performance management can be improved by the use of performance contracts and the revitalisation of the rewards and sanctions framework to staff in the health facilities. The paper unravels the influence of performance management to health service provision in Uganda.   Key words: Performance management, health service provision.

Investigating the effects of human health resource changes on the basic health indicators in Iran: An econometric study

INTRODUCTION:In the development perspective of each country, it is important to pay attention to the health sector and improve health indicators; therefore, planning in training and distribution of human resources in the health sector is an important factor to achieve the health system goals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of changes in health sector human resources on infant mortality rate (IMR), maternal mortality rate (MMR), and under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in Iran.METHODS:This was an econometric study (data panel) that conducted retrospectively and used data from the period 2006 to 2017 among Iranian provinces. Three regression models were used to determine the effect of health sector human resources (physicians, nurses, and paramedical staff) on the IMR, MMR, and U5MR. The random-effects model was selected over the fixed-effects model to assess the effect of health sector human resources on health outcomes.RESULTS:Results showed that the number of physicians in different models has a stronger impact on these mortality rates than those of nurses and paramedics, so that a 1% increase in the number of physicians leads to 2.1%, 3.8%, and 2.2% decrease in IMR, MMR, and U5MR, respectively. Furthermore, per capita income has a bigger impact on these mortality rates than human health resources.CONCLUSION:Increasing the number of human resources in the health sector, especially the number of physicians, by investing in these resources by providing educational facilities, plays an important role in improving the mothers’ and infants’ health indicators.

Factors associated with effective coverage of child health services in Burkina Faso.

To identify factors associated with both crude and effective health service coverage of under-fives in rural Burkina Faso. In a cross-sectional study, 494 first-line health facilities, 7347 households and 12 497 under-fives were surveyed. Two sequential logistic random effects models were conducted to assess factors associated with crude and effective coverage. Of 614 children under-five with a reported illness episode, 427 (69.5%) received care at a health facility. Of those, 274 (64.1%) received care at a health facility providing at least the minimum threshold of service quality. We found that younger age, having a severe illness, shorter distance between household and health facility, and being from wealthier households were positively associated with crude coverage. In addition, low patient caseload and longer consultation had a positive association, while frequent facility supervisions had a negative association with effective coverage. Moreover, the nurse to clinical staff ratio at the health facility was positively associated with both crude and effective coverage. Our study found that crude coverage is associated with pre-disposing and enabling factors of health care access, while the availability of nurses is a strong predictor for both crude and effective coverage. This suggests that in the context of scarcity of resources, investing in human resources in health sector could be one of the priorities for decision-makers to ensure children in need not only access to healthcare but also good quality of care.

Inequality in Distribution of Health Care Resources in Iran: Human Resources, Health Centers and Hospital Beds

Background: One of the most important goals of health systems is equality in access to health services and one of the important dimensions of health equality in relation to resources distribution in this sector. Objectives: This study was done to examine the equality in resource distribution between provinces of Iran in 2014. Methods: In the present retrospective study, the population included the public health sector human resources, hospital beds, and health centers in Iran. The data were collected from the Iran statistics center and ministry of health and Medical education. The inequality was estimated by Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, Hoover index, and by using Excel and Stata 12 software. Results: The Gini coefficients were 0.13797, 0.19980, and 0.1499 for the manpower, health care centers, and hospital beds, respectively. Thus, they were significant. In addition, the Hoover index was 7, 8.60, and 6.70 for the three studied resources, respectively. Conclusions: The distribution of the health sector resources between Iran provinces was relatively equal. Therefore, health policy makers should be focused on the other aspects of accessibility such as distribution of resources according to health needs, resources distribution within provinces, and quality of provided services.

Factors affecting intent to immigration among Iranian health workers in 2016.

BackgroundLoss of human resources in the health sector through migration has caused many problems in the delivery of healthcare services in developing countries.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine factors influencing intention to migrate in skilled human resources in Iran’s healthcare sector.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out in 2016 in Iran. The study population included health sector human resources at the Tehran and Iran University of Medical Sciences. Using multi-stage cluster sampling, 827 people were selected for participation. Participants included four groups: hospital staff, health workers, medical students, and postgraduate students (Masters and PhD). Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive parameters, chi-square and logistic regression test using SPSS version 18.ResultsInclination to migrate, in the study population, was 54.77%. There was a significant relationship between inclination to migrate and age, work experience, employment status, marital status, familiarity with a foreign language, foreign language skills, foreign language courses, having relatives or family living abroad, and prior experience of being abroad (p<0.05). The most important factors influencing inclination to migrate were: reaching out for better life (81.92±21.95), interdisciplinary discrimination (80.83±20.75), and experience of living and studying abroad. (80.55±18.12),ConclusionConsidering the high rate of intention to emigrate in the studied population (54.77%), a lot of whom will emigrate if their situation is ready, it can be a serious problem for the health system in the near future in which it will face lack of skilled health workers, and so requires more attention of health sector authorities.

Association between health worker motivation and healthcare quality efforts in Ghana

BackgroundGhana is one of the sub-Saharan African countries making significant progress towards universal access to quality healthcare. However, it remains a challenge to attain the 2015 targets for the health related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) partly due to health sector human resource challenges including low staff motivation.PurposeThis paper addresses indicators of health worker motivation and assesses associations with quality care and patient safety in Ghana. The aim is to identify interventions at the health worker level that contribute to quality improvement in healthcare facilities.MethodsThe study is a baseline survey of health workers (n = 324) in 64 primary healthcare facilities in two regions in Ghana. Data collection involved quality care assessment using the SafeCare Essentials tool, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) accreditation data and structured staff interviews on workplace motivating factors. The Spearman correlation test was conducted to test the hypothesis that the level of health worker motivation is associated with level of effort by primary healthcare facilities to improve quality care and patient safety.ResultsThe quality care situation in health facilities was generally low, as determined by the SafeCare Essentials tool and NHIA data. The majority of facilities assessed did not have documented evidence of processes for continuous quality improvement and patient safety. Overall, staff motivation appeared low although workers in private facilities perceived better working conditions than workers in public facilities (P <0.05). Significant positive associations were found between staff satisfaction levels with working conditions and the clinic’s effort towards quality improvement and patient safety (P <0.05).ConclusionAs part of efforts towards attainment of the health related MDGs in Ghana, more comprehensive staff motivation interventions should be integrated into quality improvement strategies especially in government-owned healthcare facilities where working conditions are perceived to be the worst.

Interdependence of the Health and Education Sectors in Meeting Health Human Resource Needs

The health sector is dynamic with change endemic. But role assignment in the workplace is varying little by little because of the rigidities associated with professional demarcations, the long training times for many health professions and the pace and ability of educational institutions to respond to changes in the health workforce. In their article, Tzountzouris and Gilbert identify a number of issues that could inform educational institutions' response to emerging health human resource needs. This commentary discusses limitations on our thinking, the intertwined relationships between the educational and health sectors and three critical steps to take in health sector human resource planning.

Assessing the impact of a new health sector pay system upon NHS staff in England

BackgroundPay and pay systems are a critical element in any health sector human resource strategy. Changing a pay system can be one strategy to achieve or sustain organizational change. This paper reports on the design and implementation of a completely new pay system in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. 'Agenda for Change' constituted the largest-ever attempt to introduce a new pay system in the UK public services, covering more than one million staff. Its objectives were to improve the delivery of patient care as well as enhance staff recruitment, retention and motivation, and to facilitate new ways of working.MethodsThis study was the first independent assessment of the impact of Agenda for Change at a local and national level. The methods used in the research were a literature review; review of 'grey' unpublished documentation provided by key stakeholders in the process; analysis of available data; interviews with key national informants (representing government, employers and trade unions), and case studies conducted with senior human resource managers in ten NHS hospitals in EnglandResultsMost of the NHS trust managers interviewed were in favour of Agenda for Change, believing it would assist in delivering improvements in patient care and staff experience. The main benefits highlighted were: 'fairness', moving different staff groups on to harmonized conditions; equal pay claim 'protection'; and scope to introduce new roles and working practices.ConclusionAgenda for Change took several years to design, and has only recently been implemented. Its very scale and central importance to NHS costs and delivery of care argues for a full assessment at an early stage so that lessons can be learned and any necessary changes made. This paper highlights weaknesses in evaluation and limitations in progress. The absence of systematically derived and applied impact indicators makes it difficult to assess impact and impact variations. Similarly, the lack of any full and systematic evaluation constrained the overall potential for Agenda for Change to deliver improvements to the NHS.

The Instability of the Administrative structures and its Effect on The Health Policy in Libya 1977-2000

Different studies of public policies showed that these policies are influenced by the degree of the instability of the administrative structures and institutions. Public Policies studies on Libya arrived to the same conclusion where it was observed that the Libyan political system was characterized by the instability of most of its administrative and political structures and institutions with an adverse effect on the economic , social and educational policies of the regime .&#x0D; This study represents another attempt to trace the effect of structural instability on the monitoring and execution of health policies in Libya. during the period 1977-2000.&#x0D; The study shows that this instability had a negative effect on the health policy in Libya. Some indicators were used to test this proposion.&#x0D; These indicators include: financial allocations to health sector and the actual expenditure , human resources in health sector , and the infrastructures of health sector .&#x0D; The study proves that all these aspects of health policy in Libya were influenced adversely by these administrative and political changes.