Cargando…

A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda

BACKGROUND: Task shifting has been implemented in Uganda for decades with little documentation. This study’s objectives were to; gather evidence on task-shifting experiences in Uganda, establish its acceptability and perceptions among health managers and policymakers, and make recommendations. METHO...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Baine, Sebastian Olikira, Kasangaki, Arabat
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4036592/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24754917
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-184
_version_ 1782318175187107840
author Baine, Sebastian Olikira
Kasangaki, Arabat
author_facet Baine, Sebastian Olikira
Kasangaki, Arabat
author_sort Baine, Sebastian Olikira
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Task shifting has been implemented in Uganda for decades with little documentation. This study’s objectives were to; gather evidence on task-shifting experiences in Uganda, establish its acceptability and perceptions among health managers and policymakers, and make recommendations. METHODS: This was a qualitative study. Data collection involved; review of published and gray literature, and key informant interviews of stakeholders in health policy and decision making in Uganda. Data was analyzed by thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Task shifting was the mainstay of health service delivery in Uganda. Lower cadre of health workers performed duties of specialized health workers. However, Uganda has no task shifting policy and guidelines, and task shifting was practiced informally. Lower cadre of health workers were deemed to be incompetent to handle shifted roles and already overworked, and support supervision was poor. Advocates of task shifting argued that lower cadre of health workers already performed the roles of highly trained health workers. They needed a supporting policy and support supervision. Opponents argued that lower cadre of health workers were; incompetent, overworked, and task shifting was more expensive than recruiting appropriately trained health workers. CONCLUSIONS: Task shifting was unacceptable to most health managers and policy makers because lower cadres of health workers were; incompetent, overworked and support supervision was poor. Recruitment of existing unemployed well trained health workers, implementation of human resource motivation and retention strategies, and government sponsored graduates to work for a defined mandatory period of time were recommended.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4036592
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2014
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-40365922014-05-29 A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda Baine, Sebastian Olikira Kasangaki, Arabat BMC Health Serv Res Research Article BACKGROUND: Task shifting has been implemented in Uganda for decades with little documentation. This study’s objectives were to; gather evidence on task-shifting experiences in Uganda, establish its acceptability and perceptions among health managers and policymakers, and make recommendations. METHODS: This was a qualitative study. Data collection involved; review of published and gray literature, and key informant interviews of stakeholders in health policy and decision making in Uganda. Data was analyzed by thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Task shifting was the mainstay of health service delivery in Uganda. Lower cadre of health workers performed duties of specialized health workers. However, Uganda has no task shifting policy and guidelines, and task shifting was practiced informally. Lower cadre of health workers were deemed to be incompetent to handle shifted roles and already overworked, and support supervision was poor. Advocates of task shifting argued that lower cadre of health workers already performed the roles of highly trained health workers. They needed a supporting policy and support supervision. Opponents argued that lower cadre of health workers were; incompetent, overworked, and task shifting was more expensive than recruiting appropriately trained health workers. CONCLUSIONS: Task shifting was unacceptable to most health managers and policy makers because lower cadres of health workers were; incompetent, overworked and support supervision was poor. Recruitment of existing unemployed well trained health workers, implementation of human resource motivation and retention strategies, and government sponsored graduates to work for a defined mandatory period of time were recommended. BioMed Central 2014-04-23 /pmc/articles/PMC4036592/ /pubmed/24754917 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-184 Text en Copyright © 2014 Baine and Kasangaki; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Baine, Sebastian Olikira
Kasangaki, Arabat
A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda
title A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda
title_full A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda
title_fullStr A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda
title_full_unstemmed A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda
title_short A scoping study on task shifting; the case of Uganda
title_sort scoping study on task shifting; the case of uganda
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4036592/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24754917
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-184
work_keys_str_mv AT bainesebastianolikira ascopingstudyontaskshiftingthecaseofuganda
AT kasangakiarabat ascopingstudyontaskshiftingthecaseofuganda
AT bainesebastianolikira scopingstudyontaskshiftingthecaseofuganda
AT kasangakiarabat scopingstudyontaskshiftingthecaseofuganda