Botswana

In Botswana, a Stronger Workforce Means Better Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

mnathe — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 18:32:37 +0000

In Botswana, a Stronger Workforce Means Better Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children mnathe November 12, 2018

November 12, 2018

Social service workers face heavy caseloads, big expectations, and even suspicion from their communities.

IntraHealth International has joined the Call to Action: Strengthening the Social Service Workforce to Better Protect Children and Achieve the SDGs.

This call is close to our hearts, because our mission—which is to improve the performance of health workers and strengthen the systems in which they work—includes social service workers, from government-employed social workers to trained community case workers or volunteers on child-protection committees. They play a key role in connecting vulnerable children and families to services, including health services, and work hand-in-hand with health workers to achieve a world in which everyone everywhere has the health care they need to thrive.

This inclusive commitment is what motivated our choice to sign on to the call and its specific recommended actions align with much of our work in health and social welfare systems and workforce strengthening.

One professional covers several villages. It's difficult for them to meet expectations.

For example, in Botswana, we’re a partner on two USAID-funded projects that are improving the lives of orphans and vulnerable children and their families. One is the Catholic Relief Services (CRS)-led Coordinating Comprehensive Care for Children (4Children) project, where IntraHealth worked alongside the government of Botswana and USAID on the qualitative portion of a national situational analysis of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).

The analysis revealed the high caseloads district social workers experience (especially given that one professional covers several villages), and how difficult it is for them to meet expectations. They face the heavy burden of administering assessments for households that need government cash transfers / OVC grants, and suspicion from community members, some of whom accuse them of corruption when their households are deemed ineligible for assistance.

“We know the community does not like us,” one respondent told us. “They think we are corrupt, when we are following the policy. They think we have bad attitudes, when we are overworked and overburdened.”

A motivated, well-equipped workforce is essential for providing high-quality services—and to providing a safety net for the families most at risk. The results show us some of the challenges to making that workforce a reality in Botswana.

Under the Project Concern International (PCI)-led Botswana Comprehensive Care and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children project—which empowers communities to seek, support, and provide HIV/AIDS-related services to OVC and their parents/caregivers—we’ve used what we learned from the situational analysis to support government systems and workforce strengthening efforts at the national level.

The results will inform a new national framework to deliver better services to orphans and vulnerable children.

We’re doing this mainly by seconding a senior technical advisor to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, which is the primary custodian of OVC, particularly the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Community Development.

So far, we’ve helped:

Form a technical working group to assume ownership of the national-level efforts.
Complete an assessment of the existing system of enrolling children in social protection/welfare services (like OVC grants and other forms of assistance such as birth registration, emergency food and clothing, and psychosocial support).
Determine which gaps to address within structures, systems, and procedures.

Findings from the assessment point to a need for more effective policy dissemination, so that across sectors and down to the civil society organization (CSO) level, all those who are involved in delivering services to OVC are clear on their roles, responsibilities, and reporting requirements, as well as joint planning at the district level with CSOs, since they are one of the major partners in OVC programming in Botswana.

“OVC problems require a multisectoral approach,” one government policymaker shared during the assessment, “and that calls for information-sharing, joint planning, and partnership in program implementation. If there is poor coordination, the management of the programs will be compromised, hence negatively affecting the quality of service provision.”

According to Ms. Boipelo Seitlhamo, senior social service workforce advisor with the project, internal consultative meetings on the report results “created dialogue with the Department of Social Protection and paved the way for developing an action plan that prioritizes response to gaps in knowledge and implementation of policies, reporting and referrals, including a mechanism for tracking and documenting OVC interventions.”

After the report results and recommendations are widely disseminated, the project plans to work with the Department of Social Projection, the lead agency in rolling out a revised enrollment system that will ensure all eligible children are assessed, registered, and receive benefits in line with the Children’s Act. The results will also inform a new national framework for forging effective working relationships between government and CSOs to deliver better services for OVC.

For decades, IntraHealth has worked to improve health and social systems around the world, partnering with countries to better plan, develop, and support their frontline workforces. And as the HIV epidemic continues and other threats—such as Ebola and Zika outbreaks and global refugee crises—grow, so will the needs of vulnerable children and their families. Our work is far from done.

IntraHealth International was the host and a fiscal sponsor of the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance from 2012 to 2016 under the USAID-funded global CapacityPlus Project.

This post originally appeared on the Social Service Workforce Alliance blog under the headline Improving Care for OVC through Systems Strengthening in Botswana.

By Alex Collins

Former health workforce technical advisor, IntraHealth International

Coordinating Comprehensive Care for Children (4Children) HIV & AIDS Policy & Advocacy Social Services Youth Engagement Social Service Workers Botswana

Boipelo Seitlhamo (center) presents findings from an assessment of Botswana's existing system for accessing social protection services for orphans and vulnerable children. Photo courtesy of IntraHealth International.

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Picture It: IntraHealth Tumblr Post

intrahealth — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 19:09:48 +0000

Picture It: IntraHealth Tumblr Post

intrahealth October 10, 2017

Picture It: IntraHealth Tumblr Post

intrahealth — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 19:09:48 +0000

Picture It: IntraHealth Tumblr Post

intrahealth October 10, 2017

Botswana Is Building a Strong Health System by Focusing on Health Workers

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 13:43:30 +0000

Botswana Is Building a Strong Health System by Focusing on Health Workers Anonymous (not verified) September 27, 2016

April 08, 2015

“I have a passion to help sick people,” says Oteng Gaopatwe, a nurse at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in Francistown, Botswana.

“One thing I like most about my job is to see my clients satisfied, having a smile, and seeing all the people I have helped being relieved of their pain,” he says.

Frontline health workers like Oteng are the backbone of health systems. In order to plan effectively for training, recruitment, and retention, countries need access to current, up-to-date information about their health workforce.

In Botswana, the IntraHealth International-led CapacityPlus project has been working with the Ministry of Health to strengthen the availability and use of health workforce data using iHRIS—a suite of free, open source software tools used in 20 countries. IntraHealth developed iHRIS through the USAID-funded Capacity Project and continues to enhance it through CapacityPlus.

I became a health worker because I had the health of the public at heart.

The ministry is using iHRIS Manage, iHRIS Qualify, and iHRIS Train to inform policy, planning, and HR management, as well as to assist training institutions and health professional councils in tracking preservice education, in-service training, and professional licensure and registration.

Data from the country’s major private health facilities, the HIV/AIDS Training Unit, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council have been entered into iHRIS. Recently the project worked with the ministry to develop a standardized list of job titles that will facilitate interoperability among the HR and payroll systems as well as iHRIS.

“iHRIS will help the Ministry of Health by restructuring the system,” says Winnie Batsalelwang, HR officer, “making it easily accessible and resourceful.”

At Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, staff members have been busy entering data into iHRIS and validating records. Regina Nicole Koata trained as a dental therapist and works on the hospital’s Quality Improvement Team.

“I became a health worker because I had the health of the public at heart,” she says. “I wanted to save lives at the end of the day.” Like Oteng, she treasures the knowledge of making a difference in her clients’ lives.

“What I like most is the response that you get back from the patients after you helped them," she says. "It really gives you the satisfaction that you’ve reached out to people…it’s a really exciting area of my job.”

All 1,323 personnel files at the hospital from the current HR registry have now been entered into iHRIS. Currently CapacityPlus is ensuring that Ministry of Health staff can fully transition into the roles needed to maintain iHRIS and effectively use the data it generates; training other local partner staff in iHRIS data entry and use; and fostering iHRIS-related linkages among councils, training institutions, and facilities.

Watch one-minute video interviews with Oteng and Regina. IntraHealth knows that health workers count. That’s why we’re celebrating World Health Worker Week, April 5-11, 2015. And we hope you’ll join the conversation. #WHWWeek #HealthWorkersCount The IntraHealth-led CapacityPlus project is funded by the US Agency for International Development. This post originally appeared on the CapacityPlus blog.

By Alex Collins

Former health workforce technical advisor, IntraHealth International

By Sarah Dwyer

Former communications manager, IntraHealth International

HRIS Botswana

Photos

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Tracking All Health Workers in Botswana

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 13:13:34 +0000

Tracking All Health Workers in Botswana Anonymous (not verified) September 14, 2016

June 21, 2011

Kabelo Bitsang works at the Botswana Ministry of Health. His job is to help the Ministry know enough about the country’s health workers so it can plan effectively for recruitment, training, and retention.

Without current data on health workers, countries can’t ensure that the right provider is in the right place with the right skills. As Bitsang recalls, there was no centralized information system for all health workers across the public and private sectors, and various departments used different databases.

With Bitsang’s help, the Ministry of Health implemented iHRIS Manage, CapacityPlus’s free, Open Source software for maintaining information on health worker deployment and attrition. “We are using iHRIS to track all health workers in the country, what districts they work in, and what cadre they belong to,” Bitsang says.

One benefit of the new system is the ability to manage health worker training. “Tracking the training will make it easier for the Ministry to identify the workers eligible for certain courses,” Bitsang explains. “It will also be possible to see which workers are working in areas they are not trained for.”

Customizing the system

The Ministry of Health guided customization of iHRIS Manage for its particular context. The iHRIS Suite of software is Open Source, which means that local developers can modify the code to suit their needs.

“We needed a way to track short courses that people have taken, so a module called Professional Development was created,” Bitsang says. “We also made changes to the establishment module to create a better link with the public service HR system. The training module was customized to accommodate the needs of all departments in the Ministry.”

Making use of health worker data

“We are currently using iHRIS data to build an HR profile for Botswana with the help of the WHO,” Bitsang notes. “We send out monthly HR reports to all stakeholders to give them a situational analysis of HR in the health sector. We get regular requests from Parliament to answer questions on health workers. iHRIS data has also been used to make estimates for health HR financing.”

Bitsang is also synching iHRIS Manage with the payroll system. “The main advantage of synching the two systems is that it gives everyone more of an incentive to have up-to-date data in iHRIS,” he points out. “If that information is going to be used to pay people, then it needs to be accurate and timely. The other benefit is that we can get salary grade information straight out of the payroll system where we know it is accurate, instead of going on data collection exercises.”

Taking steps toward sustainability

IntraHealth's global project CapacityPlus is strengthening Botswana’s ability to manage and use health worker information. Bitsang has been learning quickly. “I started on the project as an intern, working with one of the developers,” he says. He’s now the Ministry of Health’s iHRIS administrator.

“We just hired four officers who I will be training as administrators of the system,” he adds. “This is to ensure that there is continuity in case I leave and also helps to spread the workload.” The new officers will take CapacityPlus’s eLearning course for iHRIS administrators. “We have also trained most of the administrators in the Ministry in basic use of the system, focusing on report generation.”

Looking ahead

“Our next big step will be rolling iHRIS out to the districts,” Bitsang says. Ideally, iHRIS Manage will also be integrated into Botswana’s larger health information system.

“I have learned a lot working on this project,” says Bitsang, “and believe that it will make a huge difference in my country.”

A version of this piece was originally published as CapacityPlus Voices #6, on the CapacityPlus website.

Botswana CapacityPlus Health Workers

Perle Combary

ihadmin2 — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 19:23:41 +0000

Perle Combary Former senior director of program delivery ihadmin2 September 13, 2016

Perle Combary is a sociologist with over 35 years of experience with strategic programming, program management, evaluation and research in the areas of population, reproductive health, family planning, health financing, community-based services, and quality and performance improvement.

Before becoming senior director of program delivery, she served 12 years within a USAID country office in West Africa as program manager and 23 years with evolving leadership responsibilities at IntraHealth’s offices in various countries in Africa and at headquarters, providing technical and management support to numerous health development projects. In this capacity, she fulfilled short term and long term assignments in many countries including Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland and Togo. More recently, as Benin Country Director, Combary provided overall leadership, technical and management guidance to the USAID-funded ACQUIRE’s project. She led the regional Southern Africa Human Capacity Development (SAHCD) project based in South Africa, and she also served as program director for West Africa and Middle East. Combary has a PhD in Sociology from Paris VIII University in France and a master's in information sciences. She is fluent in English and French.

English, French