This publication is intended to provide policy options and practical guidance to Member States in developing and sustaining health workforces that enhance health systems performance and service quality and improve health outcomes. Although this Strategy can serve as a user guide, it is not intended to replace the need for country-based and country-specific health workforce strategies.
The concept of global health has moved on from focusing on the problems of the developing world to encompass health problems with global impact. Global health issues impact daily on local healthcare delivery and professional practice. This illuminating guide for healthcare students and practitioners introduces the major themes, challenges and debates relevant to global health that will equip the reader with the knowledge and skills required to thrive in this multi-faceted area of practice. Key features Puts global health in context considering key issues including health inequalities, human health and the global environment and climate change. Ideal reading for international electives, voluntary work, and further qualifications in global health. Contains insights from leading experts in the field. Relevant to those working in a culturally diverse context whether domestic or international.
Several years have passed since the launch of the National Health Workforce Accounts (NHWA) in 2017. And following a global pandemic that disrupted healthcare services worldwide, it is an opportune time to reflect on the progress, priorities, gaps, and adaptations of the NHWA. The NHWA has witnessed unprecedented engagement from countries, partners, and all three levels of the World Health Organization, with focal points nominated by most Member States (90%). Thanks to collective efforts, there has been a significant improvement in the availability and quality of health workforce (HWF) data. Standardized measurement approaches, streamlined reporting mechanisms, and the involvement of multiple stakeholders from various sectors, including partner organizations, have played a vital role in this advancement. The data monitored and reported through NHWA has contributed to generating evidence on various policy issues, including HWF shortages, ageing, migration, and inequalities related to gender and subnational disparities. Furthermore, it has shed light on the significant contributions of the HWF in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NHWA has also facilitated the development of key global products, such as the State of the World’s Nursing report, the State of the World’s Midwifery report, as well as several national and regional reports. Since 2017, the World Health Assembly has adopted a series of new resolutions highlighting HWF issues, such as the Strategic Directives on Nursing and Midwifery, the Working for Health Action Plan, and the Global Health and Care Worker Compact, to name a few. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a greater recognition of the role of the HWF for universal health coverage (UHC) and health security. The development of the Roadmap for building national workforce capacity to deliver the essential public health functions, initiatives on non-communicable diseases, community health workers (CHWs), primary health care (PHC), and traditional and complementary medicine, all recognized the centrality of the health and care workforce as well as the need for data and evidence to inform policies and planning. While ensuring continuity in the standardization of HWF statistics and maintaining the legacy of NHWA v1.0, this revision of NHWA incorporates necessary changes and adaptations to accommodate priority data needs for health and care workers (HCWs)-related new initiatives and challenges. The implementation of NHWA remains committed to core principles, which include a systems-strengthening approach, progressive implementation, multi-sectoral governance, and diversification of data sources. This revised version also provides more examples of NHWA data use.
Since 2004, the U.S. government has supported the global response to HIV/AIDS through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Republic of Rwanda, a PEPFAR partner country since the initiative began, has made gains in its HIV response, including increased access to and coverage of antiretroviral therapy and decreased HIV prevalence. However, a persistent shortage in human resources for health (HRH) affects the health of people living with HIV and the entire Rwandan population. Recognizing HRH capabilities as a foundational challenge for the health system and the response to HIV, the Government of Rwanda worked with PEPFAR and other partners to develop a program to strengthen institutional capacity in health professional education and thereby increase the production of high-quality health workers. The Program was fully managed by the Government of Rwanda and was designed to run from 2011 through 2019. PEPFAR initiated funding in 2012. In 2015, PEPFAR adopted a new strategy focused on high-burden geographic areas and key populations, resulting in a reconfiguration of its HIV portfolio in Rwanda and a decision to cease funding the Program, which was determined no longer core to its programming strategy. The last disbursement for the Program from PEPFAR was in 2017. Evaluation of PEPFAR's Contribution (2012-2017) to Rwanda's Human Resources for Health Program describes PEPFAR-supported HRH activities in Rwanda in relation to programmatic priorities, outputs, and outcomes and examines, to the extent feasible, the impact on HRH and HIV-related outcomes. The HRH Program more than tripled the country's physician specialist workforce and produced major increases in the numbers and qualifications of nurses and midwives. Partnerships between U.S. institutions and the University of Rwanda introduced new programs, upgraded curricula, and improved the quality of teaching and training for health professionals. Growing the number, skills, and competencies of health workers contributed to direct and indirect improvements in the quality of HIV care. Based on the successes and challenges of the HRH program, the report recommends that future investments in health professional education be designed within a more comprehensive approach to human resources for health and institutional capacity building, which would strengthen the health system to meet both HIV-specific and more general health needs. The recommendations offer an aspirational framework to reimagine how partnerships are formed, how investments are made, and how the effects of those investments are documented.
The health workforce must be able to cope with shifts in the pattern of causes of death and disease that are being seen worldwide—particularly with the rise in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This requires health personnel to have a set of skills and competencies that can adapt to meet the population’s growing and changing health needs. This report examines the status of the nurse workforce in the Eastern Caribbean, assessing how best to strengthen its capacity to respond to the growing burden of NCDs. The report is based on four Eastern Caribbean case studies conducted in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The case studies showed that, although overall nurse staffing levels seem to be sufficient across the four countries in terms of numbers, there are nurse shortages at hospitals and health clinics, as well as in the availability of specialists. Better management of the nurse workforce is needed to ensure adequate coverage at the hospitals and clinics is maintained. In terms of specialists, while the quality of education is generally reported to be good, there are barriers to accessing specialized training which include the high-cost of seeking specialized training due to non-existing or very limited local options and the lack of built-in incentives for completing additional education. To help address the capacity constraints faced by the nurse workforce in the Eastern Caribbean to respond to NCDs, the report generated knowledge in support of two critical areas: (i) provide an understanding of the educational and training opportunities available to nurses to strengthen their capacity to meet the NCD challenges, and (ii) assess whether there is a supportive policy environment in place for nurses to play a role in addressing NCDs. As part of the study, a toolkit was developed, which can be used to strengthen the capacity for HRH planning and management with respect to NCDs.
- A new focus for - Chapter 3: Nursing and Social Media - Chapter14: Nursing practice and digital health interventions: A focus on improving care - Chapter 19: Cultural safety in nursing and midwifery
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
This title includes a number of Open Access chapters.Human resource management is the strategic approach to management of an organization's most valuable asset-its people. It covers the recruitment, management, and direction of people who work for the organization and deals with employee compensation and benefits, hiring and training, performance m
This is the 11th WHO annual report which assesses the progress during 2005 towards the Millennium Development Goals targets for TB control in the world as a whole and in each WHO region and country, focusing on five key indicators of case detection, treatment success, incidence, prevalence and deaths. It includes data on case notifications and treatment outcomes from 200 national TB control programmes, and an analysis of plans, budgets, expenditures, and progress in DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy - Short Course) strategies for 22 high-burden countries. It summarises progress on initiatives including the development of public-private partnerships in TB control, human resource development, the management of drug-resistant TB, and collaborations in TB and HIV/AIDS control. Findings include that in 2005, there were 8.8 million new cases of TB, and an estimated 1.6 million deaths from TB including those co-infected with HIV. The TB incidence rate was stable or falling in all six WHO regions and had reached a peak worldwide. However, the total number of new TB cases was still rising slowly, because the case-load continued to grow in the African, Eastern Mediterranean and South-east Asia regions.
