Data for Decision-Making

Establishing and Using Data Standards in Health Workforce Information Systems

Sarah Dwyer — Tue, 27 May 2014 14:27:43 +0000

Author's name:

Dykki Settle, Michael Webba Lwetabe, Amanda Puckett, and Carl Leitner

May 2014 (All day)

CapacityPlus Technical Brief #13 (Interactive Version)

Human resources information systems are successful when they support policy and management decisions and when those decisions lead to better health care. However, success depends on the quality of the human resources for health data going into the system. The aim of this technical brief is to convey why data standards matter. The authors review organizational, national, and international data standards that can help ensure data quality, provide country examples, and discuss the key role of multisectoral stakeholder leadership groups in formulating and reaching consensus on standards.

Applying the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) Method in Namibia: Challenges and Implications for Human Resources for Health Policy

Sarah Dwyer — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:22:23 +0000

Author's name:

Pamela A. McQuide, Riitta-Liisa Kolehmainen-Aitken, and Norbert Forster

December 2013 (All day)

Human Resources for Health

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the first-ever national application of the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) tool developed by the World Health Organization. The article describes the steps involved in implementing WISN, a human resources management tool, in Namibia, discusses software and data challenges, summarizes key findings relating to health worker shortages and inequities, and reviews the utility of the WISN findings for policy-makers in Namibia. The authors observe that the WISN method can offer credible workload-based evidence to improve the equity and distribution of health workers within a region or across similar types of facilities nationwide. Perhaps most importantly, the WISN tool allows policy-makers to consider the potential impact of decisions on staff requirements before actually making the decisions.

WHO Country Assessment Tool on the Uses and Sources for Human Resources for Health (HRH) Data

Sarah Dwyer — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:16:49 +0000

Author's name:

World Health Organization

October 2012 (All day)

WHO Country Assessment Tool on the Uses and Sources for HRH Data

There is widespread recognition of the need for accurate, timely, and effective human resources for health (HRH) data to inform the development of policies on HRH. However, many countries have weak information systems that can generate these data. This diagnostic tool contains questions intended to gather information on the uses, type, and quality of data on HRH at the institutional level in countries. The resulting information can then be used to identify priorities and develop strategies to strengthen human resources information systems at the district, regional, or national level. CapacityPlus contributed to the development of this resource through the WHO Health Workforce Information Reference Group (HIRG).

Designing Evidence-Based Incentive Strategies for Health Worker Retention

Sarah Dwyer — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:47:42 +0000

Author's name:

Wanda Jaskiewicz, Kate Tulenko, Laura Wurts, Peter Rockers, Outavong Phathammavong, Phouthone Vangkonevilay, Chanthakhath Paphassarang, Inpong Thong Phachanh, Francis Ntalazi, and George Mgomella

November 2012 (All day)

Designing Evidence-Based Strategies Poster

Many countries struggle to attract and retain sufficient numbers and types of health workers to provide quality services in rural and remote areas. Ministries of health often rely on external partners to develop the evidence base for formulating retention strategies, use less rigorous methodologies, or forego data altogether when making policy decisions. Presented at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Beijing on November 1, 2012, this poster describes two new tools—the Rapid Retention Survey Toolkit and the iHRIS Retain costing tool for retention interventions—and related results from Ministry of Health surveys in Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Uganda.

Measuring the Success of the HRH Global Resource Center

Sarah Dwyer — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:57:28 +0000

Author's name:

Corinne Mahoney Farrell and Rebecca Rhodes

September 2012 (All day)

Knowledge Management for Development

In 2006, IntraHealth International, as implementer of the USAID-funded Capacity Project, developed and launched the HRH Global Resource Center, a digital library committed to reducing access barriers in developing countries to the best human resources for health information available. Since the launch, the HRH Global Resource Center has transformed in response to usage, feedback, and changes in the field. This article in Knowledge Management for Development shares IntraHealth’s experiences developing, using, and refining monitoring and evaluation methods and metrics for the HRH Global Resource Center.

Using Routine Human Resources Information Systems to Manage, Measure, and Monitor the Health Workforce

Sarah Dwyer — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:30:27 +0000

Author's name:

Dykki Settle, Carl Leitner, Carol Bales, and George Blair

December 2011 (All day)

Using Routine HRIS

This paper examines the effectiveness of USAID’s and IntraHealth International’s approach to using routine HRIS to strengthen the health workforce in low-resource settings. It appears as a chapter in a book containing all the papers presented at the International Conference on Research in Human Resources for Health, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 9-11, 2010. The book, O trabalho em saude: Abordagens quantitativas e qualitativas (eds. Célia Regina Pierantoni, Mario Roberto Dal Poz, and Tania França), is available at http://www.obsnetims.org.br/adm/arq/livro/2141551.pdf (7 MB).

CapacityPlus au Mali

Sarah Dwyer — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:27:59 +0000

CapacityPlus au Mali

Author's name:

CapacityPlus

November 2011 (All day)

Mali Country Brief (French)

CapacityPlus collabore avec le ministère de la santé, les instituts de formation locaux ainsi que d’autres partenaires afin de remédier à la pénurie de prestataires de santé qualifiés au Mali et à leur mauvaise répartition.

CapacityPlus in Mali

Sarah Dwyer — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:22:54 +0000

CapacityPlus in Mali

Author's name:

CapacityPlus

November 2011 (All day)

Mali Country Brief

Working with the Ministry of Health, local training institutions, and other partners, CapacityPlus is addressing Mali’s shortage and unequal distribution of qualified health workers. Also available in French.

Sistemas de información de recursos humanos para la salud

Sarah Dwyer — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:31:59 +0000

Author's name:

CapacityPlus

June 2011 (All day)

Issue Brief #2 (Spanish)

¿Cómo pueden los países recolectar y utilizar información sobre la fuerza laboral de salud para incrementar el acceso a servicios de salud?

Les systèmes d’information du personnel de santé

Sarah Dwyer — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:21:49 +0000

Author's name:

CapacityPlus

June 2011 (All day)

Issue Brief #2 (French)

Comment les pays peuvent-ils recueillir et utiliser des données sur les effectifs sanitaires pour accroître l’accès aux soins ?

Health Worker Information Systems

Sarah Dwyer — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:03:28 +0000

Author's name:

CapacityPlus

June 2011 (All day)

Issue Brief #2

How can countries gather and use health workforce data to increase access to care? This brief presents an overview of the issue of health worker information systems along with suggested actions, key considerations, and resources. Also available in French and Spanish.

Strengthening HRIS

Sarah Dwyer — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:19:00 +0000

Author's name:

CapacityPlus

November 2010 (All day)

HRIS Overview

An overview of CapacityPlus's approach to human resources information systems (HRIS) strengthening.

Accroître les compétences locales à travers les systèmes d’information du personnel de santé : « Cela vaut tout l’or du monde. »

Sarah Dwyer — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:45:09 +0000

Author's name:

Sarah Dwyer

January 2011 (All day)

Échos 1

Kayode Odusote de l’Organisation ouest-africaine de la santé présente la manière dont il se sert du logiciel iHRIS du projet CapacityPlus pour aider les pays à collecter et à utiliser les données relatives au personnel de santé.

"Worth More than Any Money:" Building Local Capacity in Health Worker Information Systems

Sarah Dwyer — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:11:20 +0000

Author's name:

Sarah Dwyer

December 2010 (All day)

CapacityPlus Voices #1

Kayode Odusote of the West African Health Organization discusses how he's using CapacityPlus's iHRIS software to help countries gather and use health worker data. Also available in French.