HighlightsStrengthen health workforce competencies towards integrated health services delivery for improved health.Strengthening competencies can be differentiated by health services and health systems.Multiple actors are engaged in strengthening health workforce competencies.Steward's role to govern should create conditions for aligned processes and actors.
Objective: In this qualitative descriptive study, we explored the perceived impact and sustainability of the first accredited Paediatric Nursing Training Programme (PNTP) in Ghana, established in 2010 by a north-south Ghanaian-Canadian partnership to address child health care access and quality issues in the country. Methods: A fundamental qualitative descriptive approach was used. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with 44 stakeholders including graduates, their clinical associates, PNTP faculty, and key health system administrators in Accra and Tamale in November 2013. Interview questions were guided by a Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) that was developed in collaboration with partners to evaluate progress towards meeting the programme objectives. Whole group content analysis was conducted to achieve an overall collective impression of the PNTP from all of the stakeholders. Results: Four themes emerged from the data which offered insight into programme successes and current challenges from a local perspective: a) addressing system gaps through specialized nursing training, b) strengthening nursing identity, c) building nursing competencies and practices, and d) inspiring innovative pedagogy in nursing education. Conclusions: PNTP strengths are well aligned with modern systems-based approaches to health professional education; by maintaining this focus with future design recommendations, the PNTP will continue to serve as an international exemplar of health human resource planning and education for equity in health.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic and the current war in Ukraine have presented opportunities to increase national leadership on mental health, including support health and care workers. Member States across the region have worked closely with the WHO to strengthen their policy levers to support the mental health and occupational safety policies for the workforce at various levels including government, organization and local service levels. To complement these policies, the WHO will launch the WHO Global Health and Care Compact at the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly in May 2022.
Methods
The WHO has convened Member States to discuss the policy levers that can support the mental health of health and care workers. These include online multistakeholder webinar series, national policy dialogs, ministerial discussions during the Regional Committee, preparatory consultations for the World Health Assembly to discuss priority areas and policy. More recently with the crisis in Ukraine, the WHO has been working closely with the UN Interagency Steering Committee (IASC) Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings rolling out services for refugees, including health workers in these settings.
Results
A number of important policy recommendations are emerging from this work: (1) strengthening national and political leadership; (2) adopting stepped approaches; (3) facilitating collaboration across professions, sectors and levels of syste for more effective responses; (4) strengthening capacity and expertise; (5) monitoring effectiveness for continuous improvement; (6) ensuring acceptability and accessibility.
Conclusions
Promoting health and well-being and mental health support to the health and care workforce has become a key priority for health systems to enable sustainable national health workforces. WHO will prioritize country support on this area and the development of regional guidance.
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