FUNZOKenya

FUNZOKenya Helps Train 15,864 Health Workers, Improves Health Worker Education for the Long Haul

mnathe — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 18:58:14 +0000

FUNZOKenya Helps Train 15,864 Health Workers, Improves Health Worker Education for the Long Haul mnathe March 09, 2017 March 09, 2017

Nearly 16,000 health workers in Kenya received updated training in HIV, maternal and child health, family planning, and other critical health areas, thanks to regional training hubs created by FUNZOKenya, a project funded by the US Agency for International Development and led by IntraHealth International.

The training hubs demonstrated a 38% increase in cost-efficiency over typical trainings by shifting the venues away from expensive hotels and hosting them instead at education institutions. The project established eight such hubs—networks of medical training institutions and hospitals that serve as clinical practice sites—in partnership with the Kenyan government to streamline in-service training for health workers during 2012–2016.

This is just one of the dramatic changes in health professional education and training systems that came about during FUNZOKenya’s five-year partnership with the government of Kenya. Together, they addressed the country’s chronic shortage of health workers and worked to ensure high-quality health care for the population. Funzo means training in Kiswahili, and the project, which ended in February, covered every aspect of the topic—from infrastructure and curricula improvements to quality assurance to helping needy students stay in school.

FUNZOKenya also:

Worked with health professional schools to budget and identify potential funding mechanisms for needed infrastructure improvements. As a result, 15 institutions raised over $2.66 billion Kenyan shillings (the equivalent of about $25.7 million USD) to cover projects ranging from improving classrooms and student housing to building new nursing schools. And fundraising is still ongoing.
Provided low-interest student loans to over 9,330 students from 99 institutions through the Afya Elimu Fund, a public-private partnership between IntraHealth, the Higher Education Loans Board, Kenya Healthcare Federation, and others. Many students drop out of medical training when they cannot afford to pay school fees; Afya Elimu offers them a way to finance their educations while also providing a sustainable fund from which future students can borrow. The fund plans to help train 20,000 health workers by 2018.
Worked with medical schools and training institutions to expand and graduate more health workers by pinpointing performance gaps in nine key areas. The project worked with schools to apply a tool based on IntraHealth’s Bottlenecks and Best Buys approach to assess and address those performance gaps.
Boosted quality and accountability within health education institutions. The project worked with schools to establish curriculum management committees, improve clinical practice governance, and strengthen accreditation requirements and enforcement. During 2015–2016, four of the country’s regulatory bodies conducted inspections of 183 institutions, fully accrediting 15% and partially accrediting 80%, which must now make improvements within a given time period to gain full accreditation.
Forged closer links between professional licensure by regulatory bodies and continuing professional development. The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, for example, had 6,771 practitioners with renewed licenses as of June 2016—up from 3,137 in 2012. These linkages are critical to ensuring quality in health care.

Read more about FUNZOKenya’s results and recommendations.

Resources

Human Resources for Health in Kenya: A Stock and Flow Review

Practice Makes Perfect: A Hands-On Approach to In-Service Family Planning Training in Kenya

Establishing Mechanisms to Fund Infrastructure Development Projects in Medical Training Institutions: Lessons from Kenya

Strengthening Curriculum Management Committees in Medical Training Institutions in Kenya

Strengthening Quality of Training through Accreditation of Health Training Institutions in Kenya

Improving Health Worker Performance: The Role of Continuing Professional Development Regulation

Establishing Open and Distance eLearning in a Mid-Level Medical Training College in Kenya

Applying the Health Professional Management Tool in Medical Training Institutions

Kenya Education & Performance Private-Sector Approaches Health Financing Health Workforce & SystemsOne of the over 9,330 students to receive low-interest loans through the Afya Elimu Fund. Photo by Georgina Goodwin for IntraHealth International.FUNZOKenya

Strengthening Curriculum Management Committees in Medical Training Institutions in Kenya

intrahealth — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 03:20:19 +0000

Strengthening Curriculum Management Committees in Medical Training Institutions in Kenya 2017 intrahealth March 08, 2017

The FUNZOKenya project (2012-2017), led by IntraHealth International and funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through USAID, designed an initiative to strengthen curriculum management in 20 medical training institutions in Kenya. The project worked with medical institutions at university and middle-level colleges.

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Education & Performance Health Workforce & Systems

Publisher IntraHealth International

By Peter Shikuku, Peter Abwao, Stephen Mbaabu, David Maingi

Establishing Mechanisms to Fund Infrastructure Development Projects in Medical Training Institutions: Lessons from Kenya

intrahealth — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 03:15:12 +0000

Establishing Mechanisms to Fund Infrastructure Development Projects in Medical Training Institutions: Lessons from Kenya 2017 intrahealth March 08, 2017

FUNZOKenya employed a four-pronged approach to support infrastructure expansion: a baseline assessment, technical assistance, access to finance, and the establishment of public-private partnerships. These approaches are discussed in detail in this technical brief.

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Education & Performance Private-Sector Approaches Health Financing Health Workforce & Systems

By Emily Mungai

Practice Makes Perfect: A Hands-On Approach to In-Service Family Planning Training in Kenya

intrahealth — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 03:09:16 +0000

Practice Makes Perfect: A Hands-On Approach to In-Service Family Planning Training in Kenya 2017 intrahealth March 08, 2017

To consider the possible impact of family planning in-service training on health workers’ promotion and provision of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), FUNZOKenya conducted a study to examine uptake of IUDs and implants at facilities where providers had received training. This technical brief describes the study’s results and shares some of the experiences of rural family planning providers who received LARC training.

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Education & Performance Health Workforce & Systems Family Planning & Reproductive Health

Publisher IntraHealth International

By Daniel Karenga, Peter Abwao, Joyce Kinaro, Brian Otieno, Janet Makena

Human Resources for Health in Kenya: A Stock and Flow Review

intrahealth — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 22:30:20 +0000

Human Resources for Health in Kenya: A Stock and Flow Review 2017 intrahealth March 08, 2017

This brief summarizes stock (current number of human resources for health or HRH) and flow (movement in and out of the workforce) findings from a first phase HRH review led by the Kenya Ministry of Health with the support of the FUNZOKenya project.

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Measurement & Analytics Health Workforce & Systems

Publisher IntraHealth International

By Abeba Taddese

Applying the Health Professional Management Tool in Medical Training Institutions

intrahealth — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 22:20:32 +0000

Applying the Health Professional Management Tool in Medical Training Institutions 2017 intrahealth March 08, 2017

In 2013 FUNZOKenya employed a health professional management tool (HPMT) to assess the capacity of medical training institutions to deliver and expand quality education. This technical brief describes that experience.

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Education & Performance Health workforce development Health Workforce & Systems

Publisher IntraHealth International

By Isaac Munene , Peter Milo, David Maingi, Irene Chami

Establishing Open and Distance eLearning in a Mid-Level Medical Training College in Kenya

intrahealth — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 22:05:21 +0000

Establishing Open and Distance eLearning in a Mid-Level Medical Training College in Kenya 2017 intrahealth March 08, 2017

The FUNZOKenya Project coordinated the process of establishing an eLearning unit within a mid-level, faith-based training institution, Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS), which provides essential medicines and supplies to hundreds of health facilities across Kenya and specializes in commodity management. This technical brief describes this experience and outlines how organizations can maximize available resources to set up functional open and distance learning programs that are aligned to their strategic goals.

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Education & Performance eLearning Health Workforce & Systems

Publisher IntraHealth International

By Martin Kinyua, Peter Milo, Peter Abwao, Stephen Mbaabu

Improving Health Worker Performance: The Role of Continuing Professional Development Regulation

intrahealth — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 21:58:54 +0000

Improving Health Worker Performance: The Role of Continuing Professional Development Regulation 2017 intrahealth March 08, 2017

Between 2012 and 2016, FUNZOKenya worked with seven regulatory bodies to design continuing professional development (CPD) guidelines and an overall framework for the implementation and coordination of a comprehensive CPD system for all health workers, with a focus on national and county training and practice priorities

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Education & Performance Health Workforce & Systems

Publisher IntraHealth International

By David Maingi, Irene Chami, Peter Abwao, Stephen Mbaabu

Strengthening Quality of Training through Accreditation of Health Training Institutions in Kenya

intrahealth — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 15:48:39 +0000

Strengthening Quality of Training through Accreditation of Health Training Institutions in Kenya 2017 intrahealth March 06, 2017

This brief describes the FUNZOKenya Project's approach to strengthening the accreditation process of health training institutions and shares key results from this work.

Download

Countries Kenya

Projects FUNZOKenya

Topics Education & Performance Health Workforce & Systems

Publisher IntraHealth International

By Irene Chami, Peter Shikuku, David Maingi, Stephen Mbaabu, Peter Abwao

Five Investments Countries Can Make for Healthier People and Economies

mnathe — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 21:02:59 +0000

Five Investments Countries Can Make for Healthier People and Economies mnathe February 24, 2017

February 23, 2017

By pooling our resources and know-how, we can help solve the health workforce crisis—and build stronger economies.

There is a crisis in our global health workforce. A looming shortage of 18 million skilled workers stands between us and the promise of universal health coverage—and the economies it could help stimulate.

But how do we recruit more smart, capable workers to this field around the world? How do we make the most of the health workers we have? And how can countries build the fit-for-purpose workforces they need to foster healthy, productive populations, which are a must for economic growth?

I spend every day thinking about these questions and looking for answers in the countries where IntraHealth International works.

These problems are too big for the public sector alone.

For years, global health and development have been the domains of aid workers and the public sector, of governments and nongovernmental agencies, all working with limited resources to solve huge problems in the midst of other huge problems—meeting the need for new hospitals and health centers in the remotest regions, for example, while also struggling to bring much-needed electricity and roads to them.

These problems are too big for the public sector alone. We need new stakeholders, and an all-new architecture for working together—not only for greater global good, but for greater economic well-being, as well.

As I sat with my fellow speakers on stage at The Economist’s Innovating Economies summit in Nairobi this month, I was inspired by the collective potential we have to tackle problems in new ways—together. Take Google, for instance. The company wants to do more business in Africa, but recognizes the need for a stronger foundation there to do that—consistent access to good roads, reliable power, clean water.

These are problems public-sector players have been dealing with for decades.

So why not solve these problems together? By pooling our resources and know-how with businesses and creating thriving mixed markets for health care, we can help solve the health workforce crisis and help countries build stronger populations and economies.

I have a few ideas for how we can work together to get there:

We collect a lot of global health data, but we have a lot to learn about how to best use them.

Better data use.
We in global health and development collect a lot of data, but we have a lot to learn about how to best use them. By harnessing the data we have, we can help close the gap between the need for and availability of health workers in many countries.

In Kenya, for example, there’s a tremendous opportunity for all stakeholders—from the Ministry of Health and USAID to private-sector partners such as Procter & Gamble and Microsoft—to come together and put powerful health workforce data to use. Those data could help the public sector develop county-by-county strategies, tailoring each region’s workforce to its population’s needs and ensuring a steady pipeline of health supplies.

Stronger education and training institutions.
Aspiring health workers need access to education that is high-quality and within their financial reach. Programs such as the Afya Elimu Fund, a low-interest student loan program, are making this possible for Kenya’s health workforce and presenting ample opportunities for partnership.

The fund was established in 2013 with the US Agency for International Development through IntraHealth’s FUNZOKenya project, and is a joint venture of IntraHealth, the Higher Education Loans Board, the Kenya Healthcare Federation, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Planning and Devolution, and private-sector contributors.

To date, it has received more than US$5 million from various organizations and funded over 9,000 students to become health workers. The fund aims to raise the number to 20,000 by 2018.

A focus on primary health care.
When it comes to building our health workforces, we should focus not only on specialized cadres, but also on the generalists on the front lines of care. Universal health coverage will never happen without the nurses, midwives, community health workers, and others who provide primary health care and essential live-saving services every day. We should invest in building both public and private networks of health workers and mixed markets that maximize impact and minimize out-of-pocket payments, especially for the poorest.

Tap into the diaspora.
During West Africa’s Ebola crisis, we saw people from all over the globe with ancestral roots in that region raise their hands and say, ‘I want to help.’ As Yvonne Mburu, CEO of Med in Africa, pointed out at the summit, there’s a great desire among the diaspora to get involved in improving health care, and great potential for sharing expertise.

Establishing sustainable mechanisms that allow the diaspora to help not only during emergencies but, for example, through short-term assignments wherein they can work shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts in low-income countries could help build relationships and greater expertise among local health workers and officials.

The global demand for health care will only continue to grow.

Policies that pave the way for collaboration.
We need to work with the private sector to help create a policy environment that makes it easier for them to be involved in global health and development in substantial ways—beyond writing checks. The public sector can no longer afford to treat private-sector health care providers as “the competition.” Policies need to reflect the complementary natures of public and private health care services.

Our health workforce crisis will not go away on its own. The global demand for health care will only continue to rise as populations grow—and get older. And as African economies mature, more leaders are looking to health as a powerful investment, not just in well-being, but in their economic development.

The problem remains a global one. Now we must find the global willingness and resources to solve it.

This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post.

By Pape Amadou Gaye

Founder & President, Baobab Institute

FUNZOKenya Private-Sector Approaches Health Workforce & Systems Primary Health Care

Photos

Health care at a rural facility in Kakamega, Kenya. By Tobin Jones for IntraHealth International.

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