Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.

An adequate health workforce force is central to universal health coverage and positive public health outcomes. However many African countries have critical shortages of healthcare workers, which are worse in primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of healthcare work...

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Main Authors: Oathokwa Nkomazana, Robert Mash, Sheila Shaibu, Nthabiseng Phaladze
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4540466?pdf=render
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author Oathokwa Nkomazana
Robert Mash
Sheila Shaibu
Nthabiseng Phaladze
author_facet Oathokwa Nkomazana
Robert Mash
Sheila Shaibu
Nthabiseng Phaladze
author_sort Oathokwa Nkomazana
collection DOAJ
description An adequate health workforce force is central to universal health coverage and positive public health outcomes. However many African countries have critical shortages of healthcare workers, which are worse in primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of healthcare workers, policy makers and the community on the shortage of healthcare workers in Botswana.Fifteen focus group discussions were conducted with three groups of policy makers, six groups of healthcare workers and six groups of community members in rural, urban and remote rural health districts of Botswana. All the participants were 18 years and older. Recruitment was purposive and the framework method was used to inductively analyse the data.There was a perceived shortage of healthcare workers in primary healthcare, which was believed to result from an increased need for health services, inequitable distribution of healthcare workers, migration and too few such workers being trained. Migration was mainly the result of unfavourable personal and family factors, weak and ineffective healthcare and human resources management, low salaries and inadequate incentives for rural and remote area service.Botswana has a perceived shortage of healthcare workers, which is worse in primary healthcare and rural areas, as a result of multiple complex factors. To address the scarcity the country should train adequate numbers of healthcare workers and distribute them equitably to sufficiently resourced healthcare facilities. They should be competently managed and adequately remunerated and the living conditions and rural infrastructure should also be improved.
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spelling doaj.art-6ffb0d0bdd0b4530a6d99a09a432b01f2022-12-21T20:34:33ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01108e013584610.1371/journal.pone.0135846Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.Oathokwa NkomazanaRobert MashSheila ShaibuNthabiseng PhaladzeAn adequate health workforce force is central to universal health coverage and positive public health outcomes. However many African countries have critical shortages of healthcare workers, which are worse in primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of healthcare workers, policy makers and the community on the shortage of healthcare workers in Botswana.Fifteen focus group discussions were conducted with three groups of policy makers, six groups of healthcare workers and six groups of community members in rural, urban and remote rural health districts of Botswana. All the participants were 18 years and older. Recruitment was purposive and the framework method was used to inductively analyse the data.There was a perceived shortage of healthcare workers in primary healthcare, which was believed to result from an increased need for health services, inequitable distribution of healthcare workers, migration and too few such workers being trained. Migration was mainly the result of unfavourable personal and family factors, weak and ineffective healthcare and human resources management, low salaries and inadequate incentives for rural and remote area service.Botswana has a perceived shortage of healthcare workers, which is worse in primary healthcare and rural areas, as a result of multiple complex factors. To address the scarcity the country should train adequate numbers of healthcare workers and distribute them equitably to sufficiently resourced healthcare facilities. They should be competently managed and adequately remunerated and the living conditions and rural infrastructure should also be improved.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4540466?pdf=render
spellingShingle Oathokwa Nkomazana
Robert Mash
Sheila Shaibu
Nthabiseng Phaladze
Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.
PLoS ONE
title Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.
title_full Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.
title_fullStr Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.
title_full_unstemmed Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.
title_short Stakeholders' Perceptions on Shortage of Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: Focus Group Discussions.
title_sort stakeholders perceptions on shortage of healthcare workers in primary healthcare in botswana focus group discussions
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4540466?pdf=render
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