Using the socio-ecological model to appraise perspectives on health workforce retention and intention to leave in Malawi and Tanzania: a qualitative longitudinal study.

INTRODUCTION: The chronic health workforce shortage poses a significant setback to achieving universal health coverage. Health authorities continually develop and implement human resources for health policies and interventions to alleviate the crisis, including retention policies. However, the success of such policies and interventions is tangential to the alignment with health workers' expectations. The aim of this study was to explore perspectives on health workforce retention and intention to leave among health workers and policy-makers from rural and remote areas of Malawi and Tanzania. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 120 participants - 111 rural and remote mid-level health workers, and nine policy-makers in Malawi and Tanzania - for a period of 3 years, 2014-2017. The semi-structured interviews were conducted face to face, and follow-up interviews were conducted through emails or social media. By using the socio-ecological model as a framework for analysis, the emerging themes were mapped out and linked. RESULTS: Health workers related their perspectives on retention and intention to leave to the individual (intrapersonal), family (interpersonal/microsystem), and community (institutional/mesosystem) factors, whereas policy-makers focused their views mainly on the individual (intrapersonal) factors and retention policies at the national level (macrosystem). CONCLUSION: Policy-makers and health workers in rural and remote settings in Malawi and Tanzania recognise the factors influencing health workforce retention, and intention to leave at the individual level. However, while policy-makers focus mainly on national-level retention policies, health workers focus on retention aspects related to the family and the surrounding community - a clear misalignment. Therefore, health authorities need to align health policies to health workers' expectations to bridge this gap, improve access to the health workforce in rural and remote populations, and improve health outcomes.

Where is the 'C' in antenatal care and postnatal care: A multi-country survey of availability of antenatal and postnatal care in low- and middle-income settings.

OBJECTIVE: Antenatal (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) are logical entry points for prevention and treatment of pregnancy-related illness and to reduce perinatal mortality. We developed signal functions and assessed availability of the essential components of care. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Afghanistan, Chad, Ghana, Tanzania, Togo. SAMPLE: Three hundred and twenty-one healthcare facilities. METHODS: Fifteen essential components or signal functions of ANC and PNC were identified. Healthcare facility assessment for availability of each component, human resources, equipment, drugs and consumables required to provide each component. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Availability of ANC PNC components. RESULTS: Across all countries, healthcare providers are available (median number per facility: 8; interquartile range [IQR] 3-17) with a ratio of 3:1 for secondary versus primary care. Significantly more women attend for ANC than PNC (1668 versus 300 per facility/year). None of the healthcare facilities was able to provide all 15 essential components of ANC and PNC. The majority (>75%) could provide five components: diagnosis and management of syphilis, vaccination to prevent tetanus, BMI assessment, gestational diabetes screening, monitoring newborn growth. In Sub-Saharan countries, interventions for malaria and HIV (including prevention of mother to child transmission [PMTCT]) were available in 11.7-86.5% of facilities. Prevention and management of TB; assessment of pre- or post-term birth, fetal wellbeing, detection of multiple pregnancy, abnormal lie and presentation; screening and support for mental health and domestic abuse were provided in <25% of facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Essential components of ANC and PNC are not in place. Focused attention on content is required if perinatal mortality and maternal morbidity during and after pregnancy are to be reduced. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: ANC and PNC are essential care bundles. We identified 15 core components. These are not in place in the majority of LMIC settings.

The effectiveness of training in emergency obstetric care: a systematic literature review.

Providing quality emergency obstetric care (EmOC) reduces the risk of maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. There is evidence that over 50% of maternal health programmes that result in improving access to EmOC and reduce maternal mortality have an EmOC training component. The objective was to review the evidence for the effectiveness of training in EmOC. Eleven databases and websites were searched for publications describing EmOC training evaluations between 1997 and 2017. Effectiveness was assessed at four levels: (1) participant reaction, (2) knowledge and skills, (3) change in behaviour and clinical practice and (4) availability of EmOC and health outcomes. Weighted means for change in knowledge and skills obtained, narrative synthesis of results for other levels. One hundred and one studies including before-after studies (n = 44) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (n = 15). Level 1 and/or 2 was assessed in 68 studies; Level 3 in 51, Level 4 in 21 studies. Only three studies assessed effectiveness at all four levels. Weighted mean scores pre-training, and change after training were 67.0% and 10.6% for knowledge (7750 participants) and 53.1% and 29.8% for skills (6054 participants; 13 studies). There is strong evidence for improved clinical practice (adherence to protocols, resuscitation technique, communication and team work) and improved neonatal outcomes (reduced trauma after shoulder dystocia, reduced number of babies with hypothermia and hypoxia). Evidence for a reduction in the number of cases of post-partum haemorrhage, case fatality rates, stillbirths and institutional maternal mortality is less strong. Short competency-based training in EmOC results in significant improvements in healthcare provider knowledge/skills and change in clinical practice. There is emerging evidence that this results in improved health outcomes.

Retention of knowledge and skills after Emergency Obstetric Care training: A multi-country longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine retention of knowledge and skills after standardised "skills and drills" training in Emergency Obstetric Care. DESIGN: Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Sierra Leone. POPULATION: 609 maternity care providers, of whom 455 were nurse/midwives (NMWs). METHODS: Knowledge and skills assessed before and after training, and, at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Analysis of variance to explore differences in scores by country and level of healthcare facility for each cadre. Mixed effects regression analysis to account for potential explanatory factors including; facility type, years of experience providing maternity care, months since training and number of repeat assessments. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in knowledge and skills. RESULTS: Before training the overall mean (SD) score for skills was 48.8% (11.6%) and 65.6% (10.7%). for knowledge. After training the mean (95% CI) relative improvement in knowledge was 30.8% (29.1% - 32.6%) and 59.8% (58.6%- 60.9%) for skills. Mean scores for knowledge and skills at each subsequent assessment remained between those immediately post-training and those at 3 months. NMWs who attended all four assessments demonstrated statistically better retention of skills (14.9%, 95% CI 7.8%, 22.0% p<0.001) but not knowledge (8.6%, 95% CI -0.3%, 17.4%. p = 0.06) compared to those who attended one or two assessments only. Health care facility level or experience were not determinants of retention. CONCLUSIONS: After training, healthcare providers retain knowledge and skills for up to 12 months. This effect can likely be enhanced by short repeat skills-training sessions, or, 'fire drills'.

Knowledge and Skills of Healthcare Providers in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia before and after Competency-Based Training in Emergency Obstetric and Early Newborn Care.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare provider training in Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmOC&NC) is a component of 65% of intervention programs aimed at reducing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of this. METHODS: We evaluated knowledge and skills among 5,939 healthcare providers before and after 3-5 days 'skills and drills' training in emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmOC&NC) conducted in 7 sub-Saharan Africa countries (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zimbabwe) and 2 Asian countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan). Standardised assessments using multiple choice questions and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) were used to measure change in knowledge and skills and the Improvement Ratio (IR) by cadre and by country. Linear regression was performed to identify variables associated with pre-training score and IR. RESULTS: 99.7% of healthcare providers improved their overall score with a median (IQR) increase of 10.0% (5.0% - 15.0%) for knowledge and 28.8% (23.1% - 35.1%) for skill. There were significant improvements in knowledge and skills for each cadre of healthcare provider and for each country (p<0.05). The mean IR was 56% for doctors, 50% for mid-level staff and nurse-midwives and 38% for nursing-aides. A teaching job, previous in-service training, and higher percentage of work-time spent providing maternity care were each associated with a higher pre-training score. Those with more than 11 years of experience in obstetrics had the lowest scores prior to training, with mean IRs 1.4% lower than for those with no more than 2 years of experience. The largest IR was for recognition and management of obstetric haemorrhage (49-70%) and the smallest for recognition and management of obstructed labour and use of the partograph (6-15%). CONCLUSIONS: Short in-service EmOC&NC training was associated with improved knowledge and skills for all cadres of healthcare providers working in maternity wards in both sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Additional support and training is needed for use of the partograph as a tool to monitor progress in labour. Further research is needed to assess if this is translated into improved service delivery.

How rational are indications for emergency caesarean section in a tertiary hospital in Tanzania?

The rate of caesarean section (CS) at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Tanzania has been on progressive increase for past three decades. Concerns have been raised if this increase is justified by rational decisions but no study so far has investigated this problem. The aim of the study was to find out whether decisions made for CS comply with a set of locally made standards, with an assumption that if the standards are met, then the increase in CS rate seen at MNH is genuine. The five most common indications for CS were identified from the obstetric electronic data base. Most common indications included obstructed labour, cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD), failure to progress, repeat CS and foetal distress. Criteria for the best practice for each indication were developed based on the National guidelines and local expert consensus. Information extracted from the case notes, antenatal cards and partographs were compared to the standard audit criteria and the decision judged as standard or substandard. Three hundred forty five women had a decision made for emergency CS. Repeat CS was the most frequent indication (30.2%), followed by obstructed labour (14.4%) and foetal distress (13.6%). Audit of 324 women's files showed that 30% of women had substandard decisions for CS mostly in the foetal distress group (59.1%) and least in the repeat CS group (9.1%). Among the-324 mothers with decision for emergency CS, 279 (86.1%) delivered by CS as decided and 45 (13.9%) delivered vaginally before CS could be performed. Women who delivered vaginally after decision for CS and the nulliparous women had significantly more substandard decisions compared to those delivered by CS and parous women respectively. In conclusion, a substantial proportion of decisions for emergency CS made in the hospital is substandard and may contain women in whom surgical intervention could be avoided. This calls for a need to improve quality of assessment and decision before performing CS.