Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Workforce Development Strategies: Delphi Consensus Study.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Health workforce development is essential for achieving the goals of an effective health system, as well as establishing national Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health EDRM). STUDY OBJECTIVE: The objective of this Delphi consensus study was to identify strategic recommendations for strengthening the workforce for Health EDRM in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and high-income countries (HIC). METHODS: A total of 31 international experts were asked to rate the level of importance (one being strongly unimportant to seven being strongly important) for 46 statements that contain recommendations for strengthening the workforce for Health EDRM. The experts were divided into a LMIC group and an HIC group. There were three rounds of rating, and statements that did not reach consensus (SD ≥ 1.0) proceeded to the next round for further ranking. RESULTS: In total, 44 statements from the LMIC group and 34 statements from the HIC group attained consensus and achieved high mean scores for importance (higher than five out of seven). The components of the World Health Organization (WHO) Health EDRM Framework with the highest number of recommendations were "Human Resources" (n = 15), "Planning and Coordination" (n = 7), and "Community Capacities for Health EDRM" (n = 6) in the LMIC group. "Policies, Strategies, and Legislation" (n = 7) and "Human Resources" (n = 7) were the components with the most recommendations for the HIC group. CONCLUSION: The expert panel provided a comprehensive list of important and actionable strategic recommendations on workforce development for Health EDRM.