Health worker density in deprived Amansie Central District: implications for the realisation of universal health coverage goal.
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Date
June, 2019
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Abstract
Assessment of the number and availability of health workers has recently been a
major discussion for the realization of Universal Health Coverage goals. An initiative
by government towards the plan of action by WHO to achieve this objective was to
post as many health workers as possible to the rural areas which are bedeviled with
weak staff strength. As reported by WHO, globally only 38% of the nursing
workforce remains in the rural areas, where almost half of the world’s population
lives. The general objective of the study was to determine the health worker density
and its influences on achieving the universal health coverage in the Amansie Central
District, Ghana. Quantitative data collection techniques with a cross-section study
design were employed in this study. The study was conducted in the Amansie Central
District with a total population of 103,074 and a sample size of 175. A multistage
sampling approach involving probability proportionate to size and Simple random
sampling was used. The data were analyzed as descriptive and inferential statistics
using STATA 14. The significance level for all Statistical tests was set as 0.05.
The study reported the current health staff to be 335 for the district in 2018. The
distribution of doctor to health workforce ratio for 2017 showed 1:37; 1:8; and 1:4 for
doctor to nurse, doctor to midwives and doctor to other cadres respectively. The
coefficients of the negative binomial regression highlighted that job description,
training plans, housing for personnel and conditions of service have a statistically
significant effect on health worker density. The Kendall’s W test showed the highest
ranking factors which influence people to leave their facility were to further education
followed by education for children and relocation of partner.
Findings from the study alarmed policymakers by exposing the health workforce gap
at the district. Though some reports have commended Ghana for some important steps
taken to improve the health worker density, however, two years review of the density
in the district presented no significant improvement. Management support services
such as job description, housing and training for personnel are recommended to
improve health worker density.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate Studies,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Public Health (Health Services Planning and Management).
Keywords
Health, Worker, Density, Deprived, Amansie central