Table 3 |
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Potential effect of selected site characteristics on human resources for health (HRH) needs |
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| Site characteristics |
Potential effect on HRH needs |
|
|
|
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| Increase HRH |
Decrease HRH |
|
|
|
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| Inadequate physical space |
Decreased efficiency of staff due to ineffective patient flow. |
|
| Higher HIV/AIDS prevalence |
Higher HIV/AIDS in staff and families resulting in higher absence and loss.* |
Limited staff time required to ensure treating maximum number of patients. |
| ART integrated into general medical services |
Increased staff need to be trained if significant time spent on non-HIV/AIDS/ART care. |
• May improve coordination of care, particularly if multiple services co-located and
make HRH use more efficient. • May be more beneficial as disease management changes focus to chronic disease management. |
| Rural site |
Increased need for longer -distance outreach, mobile teams. Higher probability of
need to integrate into other non-HIV/AIDS clinics due to smaller absolute numbers. |
|
| Urban site |
If population more transient, may require more HRH for outreach and adherence. |
• Potentially easier transportation for immediate catchment area to come to clinic. • Potentially easier travel for outreach. • If higher prevalence, population may reside closer to ART site. |
| Weak linkages with other services (e.g. counselling, social support) |
Increased HRH to provide full spectrum of care and services on-site. |
|
|
|
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*This effect is decreasing as programmes expand ART to their staff |
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Hirschhorn et al. Human Resources for Health 2006 4:1 doi:10.1186/1478-4491-4-1 |
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