Training needs assessment of nursing managers for achieving university health coverage

Developing a capacity building training model for public health managers of low and middle income countries

BACKGROUND

The challenges faced by the low and middle-income countries (LMIC) in the field of public health management calls for the capacity building of qualified and trained public health managers in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care delivery system. Most of the existing training programs for public health management are based in the settings of developed countries, which hinders their application in LMIC countries. The objective of this paper is to document the process of development and evaluation of a capacity building program for public health managers of various LMICs.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A training program was developed using Kern's six-step framework with several innovative learning and assessment methodologies and evaluation using Kirkpatrick training evaluation model. Delphi technique was used for program development.

RESULTS

This five to ten-day partly/fully funded six International Public Health Management Development Programs (IPHMDP) programs was conceptualized which enrolled 178 participants from 42 countries between years 2016 and 2019. Based upon the elaborative discussion in four rounds of Delphi technique, the problem and challenges faced by public health mangers and eight key competencies (viz. Leadership and governance, Project/ program planning, financial management, supply chain management, quality management, Human Resource management, monitoring and evaluation, and communication.) were identified. The group consensually agree upon a blended teaching methodology comprising of chalk and talk approach, inquiry based learning, participatory student based learning, small group instructions, gamification, project-based learning and field-based learning. There was a significant increase in participants' knowledge score (P<0.0001) after all programs especially in the competencies of monitoring and evaluation, followed by project/ program planning, supply chain management and quality management. The majority (90%) submitted their action plan one week following the program, out of which 64% implemented their action plans within six months. A majority (54.7%) of participants were able to implement their learning once they went back by conducting similar training/ workshop/webinars in their settings.

CONCLUSION

The comprehensive public health management program in LMIC settings strengthens the competencies of public health managers which can be replicated in similar settings across LMIC to mitigate diverse challenges in public health management.

Participation of delivering private hospital services in universal health coverage: A systematic scoping review of the developing countries' evidence

There is a lack of conceptual clarity about the role of delivering private hospital services (DPHS) accompanied by major gaps in evidence. The purpose of this systematic scoping review was to identify and map the available evidence regarding the developing countries to scrutinize the participation of DPHS exclusively in the universal health coverage (UHC) through providing graphical/tabular classifications of the bibliometric information, sources of the records, frequent location, contribution of the private hospital services in the health system, and roles of DPHS in UHC. This study was performed following the published methodological guidance of the Joanna Briggs Institute for the conduct of scoping review, applying some major databases and search engines. In addition, a narrative-thematic synthesis integrated with the systematic analysis using the policy framework of the World Health Organization was employed. The 28 included records in English which met the inclusion criteria were found between 2014 and January 2020. The chronological trend of records was progressive until 2019. India was the most frequent location (12%). China and Sri Lanka on the one end of the spectrum and Somalia along with South Korea from the other end were, respectively, the least and the most contributed countries in terms of DPHS. Overall, 90% of the roles were concerned with UHC goals. Although evidence has revealed inconsistency in the identified roles, a continuous chain of positive or negative effects in the UHC objectives and goals was observed. Some knowledge gaps about the roles, causes of the increasing and decreasing DPHS contribution, and its behaviors around the privatization types and circumstances of the delivery were recommended as prioritized research agendas for evidence-based policymaking in future.

Erratum: Training needs assessment of nursing managers for achieving university health coverage

[This corrects the article on p. 139 in vol. 9, PMID: 32766324.].