Close menu

SURE

Sunderland Repository records the research produced by the University of Sunderland including practice-based research and theses.

Why measure the retention of health workers within borders? Lessons learned from the ETATMBA program in measuring health workforce retention in Malawi and Tanzania

Mdegela, Mselenge, Chimwemwe Joe, Mvula, Ndemetria, Vermand, Madaj, Barbara and O'Hare, Joseph Paul (2022) Why measure the retention of health workers within borders? Lessons learned from the ETATMBA program in measuring health workforce retention in Malawi and Tanzania. Healthcare in Low-resource Settings, 10 (1). ISSN 2281-7824

Item Type: Article

Abstract

Health workforce retention is a recognised strategy for alleviating the health workforce scarcity in low- and middle income countries. However, there is a lack of clarity on what retention is and how it is measured. We followed up with health workers who participated in the ETATMBA program, an in-service training program from selected healthcare facilities in Malawi and Tanzania, once per quarter, for five years, to determine their retention. We measured retention in three aspects: i) duration of stay in target healthcare facilities, ii)
retention in clinical roles, and iii) retention in government employment. We tracked 127 participants, 46 in Malawi and 81 in Tanzania. At the end of tracking, the retention in each aspect measured was different. In Malawi, the retention in target facilities was 47.2%, the retention for clinical roles
was 69.5%, and retention for government employment was 76.1%. In Tanzania, the rates were 45.7%, 72.8%, and 76.5%,
respectively. The extent of workforce retention depends on the parameters chosen to measure it. Standard indicators for workforce retention needs to be outlined to streamline retention measurement, inform health policies and improve human resources for health planning.

[img]
Preview
PDF
Why measure the retention of health workers within borders. Lessons learned from the ETATMBA program in measuring health workforce retention in Malawi and Tanzania.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (4MB) | Preview

More Information

Uncontrolled Keywords: Health workers; health workforce; Malawi; retention; Tanzania
Depositing User: Mselenge Mdegela

Identifiers

Item ID: 15954
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2022.10376
ISSN: 2281-7824
URI: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/15954
Official URL: https://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/hls/ar...

Users with ORCIDS

ORCID for Mselenge Mdegela: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0374-6583
ORCID for Barbara Madaj: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4073-3191
ORCID for Joseph Paul O'Hare: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0199-0803

Catalogue record

Date Deposited: 05 May 2023 13:14
Last Modified: 05 May 2023 13:14

Contributors

Author: Mselenge Mdegela ORCID iD
Author: Barbara Madaj ORCID iD
Author: Joseph Paul O'Hare ORCID iD
Author: Mvula Chimwemwe Joe
Author: Vermand Ndemetria

University Divisions

Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing > School of Psychology

Subjects

Social Sciences > Health and Social Care

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item