HR Management

HR Management Policy Implementation at Presbyterian Church of East Africa Kikuyu Mission Hospital

Sarah Dwyer — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:01:33 +0000

In Kenya, faith-based organizations make a major contribution to health service delivery. The Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK) and the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops provide an estimated 30% of health care in the country through their more than 800 affiliated facilities. With assistance from the Capacity Project and subsequently from CapacityPlus, CHAK released a comprehensive HR management generic policy document in 2008. The document outlined organizational HR policies, procedures, and guidelines with the aim of strengthening human resources management (HRM) at affiliated facilities. The following post originally appeared in Hotline HRH, a publication of the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform.

Presbyterian Church of East Africa Kikuyu Hospital is one of the oldest hospitals in Kenya, having been founded in 1908 by Scottish missionaries led by Dr. Arthur. The aim of the missionaries was to educate the young boys and girls as health workers, among other objectives.

Growing only slowly over the early years from its beginnings as a small first-aid centre, the hospital received a major boost in 1975 from the late President Jomo Kenyatta, who seconded medical staff to the hospital from the Government. In the same year, the first ophthalmic work was done at the newly-founded Eye Unit.

Author's name:

Patrick Kyalo, Christian Health Association of Kenya

Publication Date:

October 2014

The Oft-Overlooked Job Description

Sarah Dwyer — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 13:40:10 +0000

This post originally appeared on VITAL, the blog of IntraHealth International.

Job descriptions for health workers—it seems like a simple concept. And in fact, job descriptions can increase a community’s access to high-quality health care in low-resource settings.

But many health workers in low-income countries don’t have this basic tool.

For example, only 57% of health workers in Namibia and 38% of health workers in Kenya have job descriptions, according to data from Service Provision Assessments conducted by the countries’ ministries of health.

Research conducted in Kenya shows that health workers who have written job descriptions provide higher-quality care than those who do not. This may be because job descriptions provide structure, guidance, accountability lines, minimum skills and qualifications standards, and performance benchmarks.

Author's name:

Kate Sheahan

Publication Date:

August 2014

Empowering HR Staff in the Dominican Republic to Play an Active Role in Improving Health Services

Carol Bales — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:43:05 +0000

When I came to work at the Directorate of Health for Region V, I was very shy and afraid to express myself. I thought that my opinions, my ideas, my views, might not be well received.

But everything changed after the training I received from the CapacityPlus project that has taught me to grow as a person and as a professional.

The project has taught me to believe in myself—that I can do quality work, I can defend my views and negotiate with my superiors, the human resources manager and regional director of health, particularly about HR processes. When something is not right—that is, not according to laws and regulations—I have to point it out and be able to explain why.

Author's name:

Diana Santana, guest blogger

Publication Date:

August 2013

El Proyecto me enseñó a comprender el rol del área de recursos humanos en la calidad de los servicios de salud

Carol Bales — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:42:30 +0000

Cuando vine a trabajar a la Dirección Regional V de Salud, era muy tímida, tenía miedo de expresarme. Pensaba que tal vez mis opiniones, mis ideas, mis puntos de vista, no iban a ser bien recibidos.

Pero todo cambió a partir de la capacitación que recibí en el proyecto CapacityPlus, que me ha enseñado a crecer como persona y como profesional.

El proyecto me ha enseñado a creer en mí. En que sí puedo hacer mi trabajo con calidad, a defender mis puntos de vista y a negociar con mis superiores: la gerente de Recursos Humanos y el Director Regional de Salud, principalmente en lo concerniente a los procesos. Cuando algo no está correcto, es decir, apegado a las leyes y los reglamentos, tengo los argumentos para señalarlo.

Author's name:

Diana Santana, guest blogger

Publication Date:

August 2013

Picturing Our Work: Who’s There?

Carol Bales — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:23:10 +0000

CapacityPlus’s Dykki Settle was excited to show me his photos from his latest trip to Uganda to support the launch of the country’s HRHIS.

As we breezed through his shots, Dykki picked out a few to linger on and tell me stories about. One stood out in my mind.

Author's name:

Carol Bales with Dykki Settle

Publication Date:

April 2012

Keeping Smiles on Their Faces

Carol Bales — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:21:03 +0000

It's been about three weeks since I was in Malawi, and I haven't stopped thinking about the smiling faces of the health workers at the Pirimiti Community Hospital. As I watched them go about their work, I wondered what it was that kept the smiles on their faces.

CapacityPlus is helping the Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM) strengthen human resources management in affiliated health facilities. I was visiting the hospital to better understand needs at the facility level.

One of the nurses I was observing approached me, and asked me if I needed any assistance. It was about 1:30 p.m. and the human resources officer and medical director that I was waiting to see had not yet arrived from their lunch break. The nurse offered to show me around the hospital as I waited.

Author's name:

Doris Mwarey

Publication Date:

February 2012

Microfinance Institutions for Better Health: How Can They Benefit Health Workers?

Sarah Dwyer — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:06:54 +0000

In my work with CapacityPlus to strengthen the global health workforce, I explore ways to improve the support system for health workers in developing countries. The Global Health Council conference session on “Wealth and health: Leveraging microfinance for better health outcomes,” which was organized by SHOPS (Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector), made me reflect on how microfinance might be used to support health workers.

The session highlighted different ways of engaging microfinance institutions for addressing community health needs. For instance, in Nigeria, the community health insurance is enrolling increasing number of participants in the benefit scheme. Such interventions have demonstrated improvement in accessibility of health services with affordable premiums. These and other initiatives could play a key role in modifying the purpose of microfinance institutions, which are traditionally designed to provide loan options and support the poor segments of the population to access small businesses and sustain life.

Author's name:

Mesrak Belatchew

Publication Date:

July 2011

Making Work Safe for Health Workers

jennifer — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:49:47 +0000

During my medical residency, several of my friends stuck themselves with used needles while caring for patients. I remember their anxiety as they waited for the blood tests to arrive that indicated whether they were at risk for HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C. More than a decade later, I now have an opportunity to help improve working conditions for health workers worldwide.

Exposure to infection
April 28 is World Day for Safety and Health at Work. We need to think about the health of the three million health workers who receive injuries that expose them to blood-borne pathogens—three million to hepatitis B and C and 170,000 to HIV. These injuries may result in 15,000 hepatitis C, 70,000 hepatitis B, and 500 HIV infections. More than 90% of these infections occur in developing countries both due to the higher incidences of these diseases and the lack of training, protective equipment, and proper disposal receptacles.

Author's name:

Kate Tulenko

Publication Date:

April 2011

The Global Advisory Board: Implementing Health Professional School Reform

jennifer — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:59:04 +0000

The enthusiasm and excitement were palpable at the March 17th inaugural meeting of the Global Advisory Board on Strengthening Medical, Nursing, and Public Health Schools in Developing Countries.

Led by Board Chairman Dr. Ok Pannenborg and cochair Dr. Kate Tulenko, the board members asserted a firm commitment and solid leadership in support of the implementation of health professional school reform. During the meeting, members discussed key issues pertinent to strengthening health professional schools and shared with each other their global expertise.

Author's name:

Amanda Puckett and Shaun Noronha

Publication Date:

April 2011

Conventional and Thai Traditional Medicine: Visiting Uthong Hospital

jennifer — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:04:51 +0000

Uthong 1

Uthong 2

Uthong 3

Uthong 4

Uthong 5

Uthong 6

Uthong 7

Uthong 8

At Uthong Hospital—a 150-bed community facility in Amphur-Uthong, Supanburi Province, Thailand—I had the opportunity to learn how the staff integrate both conventional medicine and Thai traditional therapies. Located about two hours away from Bangkok, the field trip was part of the busy week-long events at the Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health.

Author's name:

David Nelson

Publication Date:

January 2011

HRH in Africa Day: Translating African National Strategies into Successful Programs

jennifer — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:38:06 +0000

After many years of stagnation, the time has come for human resources for health (HRH) to be seen as a critical issue for Africa's development agenda.

Supporting African HRH efforts
At the HRH in Africa Day—a side session at the Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in Bangkok—representatives from the African public sector, technical experts from universities, donor and technical assistance agencies, and nongovernmental organizations debated how to support countries to translate their national HRH strategies into successful programs.

Author's name:

Richard Seifman

Publication Date:

January 2011

Country-Led Health Workforce Planning and Implementation in the Dominican Republic

jennifer — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:52:06 +0000

I was delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate face-to-face with Dr. Sonia Brito-Anderson recently. She leads CapacityPlus’s efforts to facilitate the development of a human resources strategy framework and implementation plan for the Ministry of Health in the Dominican Republic.

Along with other CapacityPlus colleagues—including Wilma Gormley, Mesrak Belatchew, and Dana Singleton—our task is to work with a national technical group, established by the Ministry of Health, to identify the key HR challenges and help to produce a strategy framework and implementation plan that is both feasible and doable.

Where are the health workers?
The Dominican Republic has a comparatively high number of health workers, yet maternal mortality rates and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV coverage remain poor.

Author's name:

Paul Marsden

Publication Date:

January 2011

Lessons in Optimism: How a Two-Week Course Changed My Thinking on Health Systems Strengthening

Sarah Dwyer — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:10:12 +0000

Excited to attend a two-week course on Strengthening Human Resources for Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, I checked into my hotel in Boston on a Sunday evening. At the front desk, I received my room key and the largest binder I’ve ever seen. I settled into my room and opened the binder expecting to find some overview materials and Boston tourism brochures. Instead it was full of course outlines and required articles.

Information overload
My technical expertise is in library and information science within the context of global health, so it’s hard to intimidate me with information overload. But as I began the required readings for the first day of class, pessimism dominated my thoughts due to the reinforcement of something I already knew—addressing human resources for health (HRH) challenges can seem overwhelming.

With so many topics to cover in just two weeks, could this course really make a difference? My mind raced as I read about many different frameworks for examining health system components. Who could possibly have expertise in all these areas (i.e., finance, labor markets, policy, management, leadership) as well as public health?

Author's name:

Corinne Farrell

Publication Date:

September 2010

Good News about Training More Health Workers—But Will They Be Absorbed?

Sarah Dwyer — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:30:44 +0000

Amid the continuing health workforce crisis, I think it’s important to acknowledge the positive steps that have occurred. In terms of donor support, one such area involves commitments to provide funding and support at the country level to train new health workers.

Training new health workers: two positive steps
For example, in 2008 the Japan International Cooperation Agency announced a major program to train some 100,000 local health workers to tackle one of Africa’s most serious problems, the unacceptably high mortality and sickness rate among pregnant women, new mothers, and their children.

Author's name:

James McCaffery

Publication Date:

August 2010