How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note
Worldwide the geographical distribution of health workers is skewed towards urban and wealthier areas. This pattern is found in nearly every country in the world, regardless of the level of economic development and health system organization, but the problem is especially acute in developing countri...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16104 |
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okr-10986-161042017-12-14T04:07:15Z How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note Araújo, Edson Maeda, Akiko access to health care allocative efficiency basic infrastructure birth attendants Bulletin burden of disease cities community health COST-EFFECTIVENESS country of origin decision making Delivery of Health Services demand for health demand for health care demographic questions description DEVELOPING COUNTRIES development goals diseases doctors drinking water drugs economic development effective policies employment opportunities family support financial incentives focus group discussions gender global health government housing Health Affairs health care health care professionals health care research health care services health care systems health coverage health economics health education health facilities health insurance health needs Health Organization health outcomes Health Policy health professionals health sector Health service health service delivery Health Services Health Services Research Health Specialist health system health systems health systems organization HEALTH WORKERS health workforce hospital households housing Human Development Human Resources INCENTIVE SCHEMES Incentives for Doctors income inequities insurance insurance schemes International Mobility intervention interventions isolation labor force labor market labor markets limited job opportunities living conditions low income Low-Income Countries marital status market failures medical education medical school Medically Underserved Areas medicines midwives migration Millennium Development Goals Ministry of Health national authorities national development national health national health systems national levels need for research nurse nurses nursing Nutrition patient patients patients satisfaction physician PHYSICIANS policy decisions POLICY FORMULATION Policy makers Policy Research Policy Research Working Paper political support primary health care private sector private sectors probability Professional associations provision of health care public sector pull factors push factors quality of care quality of services recipient country religious beliefs research methods research techniques respect role models RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS Rural Health Care rural origin safety sanitation scarce resources short-term training Skills Development social sciences Social unrest spouse Strengthening Human Resources traditional birth attendants transportation unemployment urban area urban areas Urban center urban centers WORKERS working conditions World Health Organization Worldwide the geographical distribution of health workers is skewed towards urban and wealthier areas. This pattern is found in nearly every country in the world, regardless of the level of economic development and health system organization, but the problem is especially acute in developing countries. The geographical imbalances in the health workforce further exacerbate inequities in the health sector, as the services are not available where needs are higher and impact greater. A variety of interventions have been applied in different contexts and for different types of health workers to address this problem. There is an emerging consensus that policies for recruitment and retention in rural and remote areas need to address two critical issues: i) to be effective, interventions need to be implemented in bundles, combining different packages of interventions according to the variety of factors influencing the health worker's decision to work in rural or remote areas; and ii) to match the interventions with health worker's preferences and expectations, since the health worker's employment decisions are a function of these preferences. In order to respond to these requirements, this paper proposes the application of Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) to allow for measurement of health workers' preferences and quantitatively predicts the job uptake given a set of job characteristics. This paper has a two-fold objective: a) to give the reader an overview of the magnitude of unequal health workforce distribution in the developing countries, provide a summary of the evidence to date on the factors that contribute to these imbalances, and present a systematic set of policy interventions that are being implemented around the world to address the problem of recruitment and retention of health workers in rural and remote regions of the developing countries; and b) to introduce the reader to the potential application of the DCE to elicit health workers' preferences and determine the factors likely to increase their probability of taking up a rural or remote job. 2013-10-08T19:09:13Z 2013-10-08T19:09:13Z 2013-06 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16104 en_US HNP Discussion Paper; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Working Paper Publications & Research |
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Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
World Bank |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
en_US |
| topic |
access to health care allocative efficiency basic infrastructure birth attendants Bulletin burden of disease cities community health COST-EFFECTIVENESS country of origin decision making Delivery of Health Services demand for health demand for health care demographic questions description DEVELOPING COUNTRIES development goals diseases doctors drinking water drugs economic development effective policies employment opportunities family support financial incentives focus group discussions gender global health government housing Health Affairs health care health care professionals health care research health care services health care systems health coverage health economics health education health facilities health insurance health needs Health Organization health outcomes Health Policy health professionals health sector Health service health service delivery Health Services Health Services Research Health Specialist health system health systems health systems organization HEALTH WORKERS health workforce hospital households housing Human Development Human Resources INCENTIVE SCHEMES Incentives for Doctors income inequities insurance insurance schemes International Mobility intervention interventions isolation labor force labor market labor markets limited job opportunities living conditions low income Low-Income Countries marital status market failures medical education medical school Medically Underserved Areas medicines midwives migration Millennium Development Goals Ministry of Health national authorities national development national health national health systems national levels need for research nurse nurses nursing Nutrition patient patients patients satisfaction physician PHYSICIANS policy decisions POLICY FORMULATION Policy makers Policy Research Policy Research Working Paper political support primary health care private sector private sectors probability Professional associations provision of health care public sector pull factors push factors quality of care quality of services recipient country religious beliefs research methods research techniques respect role models RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS Rural Health Care rural origin safety sanitation scarce resources short-term training Skills Development social sciences Social unrest spouse Strengthening Human Resources traditional birth attendants transportation unemployment urban area urban areas Urban center urban centers WORKERS working conditions World Health Organization |
| spellingShingle |
access to health care allocative efficiency basic infrastructure birth attendants Bulletin burden of disease cities community health COST-EFFECTIVENESS country of origin decision making Delivery of Health Services demand for health demand for health care demographic questions description DEVELOPING COUNTRIES development goals diseases doctors drinking water drugs economic development effective policies employment opportunities family support financial incentives focus group discussions gender global health government housing Health Affairs health care health care professionals health care research health care services health care systems health coverage health economics health education health facilities health insurance health needs Health Organization health outcomes Health Policy health professionals health sector Health service health service delivery Health Services Health Services Research Health Specialist health system health systems health systems organization HEALTH WORKERS health workforce hospital households housing Human Development Human Resources INCENTIVE SCHEMES Incentives for Doctors income inequities insurance insurance schemes International Mobility intervention interventions isolation labor force labor market labor markets limited job opportunities living conditions low income Low-Income Countries marital status market failures medical education medical school Medically Underserved Areas medicines midwives migration Millennium Development Goals Ministry of Health national authorities national development national health national health systems national levels need for research nurse nurses nursing Nutrition patient patients patients satisfaction physician PHYSICIANS policy decisions POLICY FORMULATION Policy makers Policy Research Policy Research Working Paper political support primary health care private sector private sectors probability Professional associations provision of health care public sector pull factors push factors quality of care quality of services recipient country religious beliefs research methods research techniques respect role models RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS Rural Health Care rural origin safety sanitation scarce resources short-term training Skills Development social sciences Social unrest spouse Strengthening Human Resources traditional birth attendants transportation unemployment urban area urban areas Urban center urban centers WORKERS working conditions World Health Organization Araújo, Edson Maeda, Akiko How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note |
| relation |
HNP Discussion Paper; |
| description |
Worldwide the geographical distribution of health workers is skewed towards urban and wealthier areas. This pattern is found in nearly every country in the world, regardless of the level of economic development and health system organization, but the problem is especially acute in developing countries. The geographical imbalances in the health workforce further exacerbate inequities in the health sector, as the services are not available where needs are higher and impact greater. A variety of interventions have been applied in different contexts and for different types of health workers to address this problem. There is an emerging consensus that policies for recruitment and retention in rural and remote areas need to address two critical issues: i) to be effective, interventions need to be implemented in bundles, combining different packages of interventions according to the variety of factors influencing the health worker's decision to work in rural or remote areas; and ii) to match the interventions with health worker's preferences and expectations, since the health worker's employment decisions are a function of these preferences. In order to respond to these requirements, this paper proposes the application of Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs) to allow for measurement of health workers' preferences and quantitatively predicts the job uptake given a set of job characteristics. This paper has a two-fold objective: a) to give the reader an overview of the magnitude of unequal health workforce distribution in the developing countries, provide a summary of the evidence to date on the factors that contribute to these imbalances, and present a systematic set of policy interventions that are being implemented around the world to address the problem of recruitment and retention of health workers in rural and remote regions of the developing countries; and b) to introduce the reader to the potential application of the DCE to elicit health workers' preferences and determine the factors likely to increase their probability of taking up a rural or remote job. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Working Paper |
| author |
Araújo, Edson Maeda, Akiko |
| author_facet |
Araújo, Edson Maeda, Akiko |
| author_sort |
Araújo, Edson |
| title |
How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note |
| title_short |
How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note |
| title_full |
How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note |
| title_fullStr |
How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note |
| title_full_unstemmed |
How to Recruit and Retain Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas in Developing Countries : A Guidance Note |
| title_sort |
how to recruit and retain health workers in rural and remote areas in developing countries : a guidance note |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16104 |
| _version_ |
1610776824259805184 |