The Knowledge library

Knowledge Library

The Health Workforce Information Ecosystem: Strengthening Connections between Health Workforce Information Domains and e/mHealth Technologies

Health workforce information systems have been proliferating in countries to address different health workforce needs, including management systems in the public and private sector, regulatory information systems including professional council registration and licensure, and training information systems. However, these different systems are not reaching their full potential due to failure to work as an interoperable whole. Presented at the GETHealth Summit in Dublin, Ireland (November 13–14, 2014), this poster describes work to develop a new data exchange standard, Care Services Discovery. This technology is open and collaborative, available for support by a wide variety of technologies, including iHRIS, DHIS 2, and UNICEF’s RapidPro platform. Open source technologies and open standards approaches make a formidable combination to address information needs.

The Dean’s Dashboard: Strengthening School Management through Information and Informed Decision-Making

Health workforce educational institutions are struggling to meet the increasing demand for health workers capable of providing quality health services to expanding populations. More effective and efficient management of education and training institutions can play a major role in a country’s ability to scale up its production of competent and qualified health workers. Presented at the GETHealth Summit in Dublin, Ireland (November 13–14, 2014), this poster describes findings from a pilot of the Dean’s Dashboard at three schools in Africa. When aligned with a school’s strategic planning efforts, the Dean’s Dashboard offers the potential for regular reports on progress toward strategic goals as well as management information in a form that is easily accessible to institutional leaders. As an open source application, it is an affordable tool for information management and presentation.

Building the “Educational Home”: Staying Connected to Alumni with MEPI Graduate Tracking in Ghana

This case study is part of the interactive ePlatform for the World Health Organization’s guidelines on transforming and scaling up health professionals’ education and training. CapacityPlus is collaborating with the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Coordinating Center, MEPI Physician Tracking Technical Working Group, and MEPI-supported medical schools in 11 African countries to develop resources and good practices for graduate tracking and to foster exchange through a regional graduate tracking network. The MEPI Connect graduate tracking software is helping African medical schools to remain connected with their graduates. Tracking allows institutions to assess the effectiveness of strategies to retain graduates at posts in underserved areas.

The Contribution of Indigenous Faith-Based Organizations to African National Health Systems

This presentation was given at the CapacityPlus knowledge-sharing and dissemination event, A Strong Health Workforce for Africa: Building Effective Partnerships with Faith-Based Organizations, held on October 27, 2014, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

Cost of Preservice Education for Health Workers: Balancing Quantity and Quality

CapacityPlus, Ethiopia’s federal ministries of health and education, and the Nursing Education Partnership Initiative conducted a retrospective cost assessment of the undergraduate nursing and midwifery programs at University of Gondar College of Medicine and Health Sciences and Arbaminch College of Health Sciences. Presented at the Third Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 3, 2014, this poster summarizes the study, which used primary source data to estimate the cost of producing nursing and midwifery graduates, identified constraints in infrastructure and materials affecting the quality of education, and showed the financial impact on the cost per graduate of overcoming some of those constraints.

How Can FBOs Advance HRH and HSS More Effectively through Engagement with International Donors?

This presentation was given at the CapacityPlus knowledge-sharing and dissemination event, A Strong Health Workforce for Africa: Building Effective Partnerships with Faith-Based Organizations, held on October 27, 2014, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

Developing a Human Resources for Health (HRH) Effort Index to Measure Country-Level Inputs in HRH

Current indicators used to measure efforts and progress in HRH are limited and often unreliable. These limitations constrain country, donor, and program efforts to identify and address gaps in HRH and to track progress over time. CapacityPlus developed the HRH Effort Index to enable countries, program implementers, and donors to more readily assess and measure national HRH inputs and potentially to predict workforce performance, service use, and quality. Presented at the Third Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 2, 2014, this poster presents preliminary results of pilot testing of the HRH Effort Index in Kenya and Nigeria in May and June 2014.

FBO Contributions to Scaling Up the Health Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities

This presentation was given at the CapacityPlus knowledge-sharing and dissemination event, A Strong Health Workforce for Africa: Building Effective Partnerships with Faith-Based Organizations, held on October 27, 2014, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.