Diaspora engagement of African migrant health workers - examples from five destination countries.

BACKGROUND: Migrant health workers fill care gaps in their destination countries, but they also actively engage in improving living conditions for people of their countries of origin through expatriate professional networks. This paper aims to explore the professional links that migrant health workers from sub-Saharan African countries living in five African and European destinations (Botswana, South Africa, Belgium, Austria, and the United Kingdom) have to their countries of origin. DESIGN: Qualitative interviews were conducted with migrant doctors, nurses, and midwives from sub-Saharan Africa (N=66). A qualitative content analysis of the material was performed using the software ATLAS.ti. RESULTS: Almost all migrant health workers have professional ties with their countries of origin supporting health, education, and social structures. They work with non-governmental organizations, universities, or hospitals and travel back and forth between their destination country and country of origin. For a few respondents, professional engagement or even maintaining private contacts in their country of origin is difficult due to the political situation at home. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that African migrant health workers are actively engaged in improving living conditions not only for their family members but also for the population in general in their countries of origin. Our respondents are mediators and active networkers in a globalized and transnationally connected world. The research suggests that the governments of these countries of origin could strategically use their migrant health workforce for improving education and population health in sub-Saharan Africa. Destination countries should be reminded of their need to comply with the WHO Global Code of Practice for the international recruitment of health professionals.

African Female Physicians and Nurses in the Global Care Chain: Qualitative Explorations from Five Destination Countries.

Migration of health professionals is an important policy issue for both source and destination countries around the world. The majority of migrant care workers in industrialized countries today are women. However, the dimension of mobility of highly skilled females from countries of the global south has been almost entirely neglected for many years. This paper explores the experiences of high-skilled female African migrant health-workers (MHW) utilising the framework of Global Care Chain (GCC) research. In the frame of the EU-project HURAPRIM (Human Resources for Primary Health Care in Africa), the research team conducted 88 semi-structured interviews with female and male African MHWs in five countries (Botswana, South Africa, Belgium, Austria, UK) from July 2011 until April 2012. For this paper we analysed the 34 interviews with female physicians and nurses using the qualitative framework analysis approach and the software atlas.ti. In terms of the effect of the migration on their career, almost all of the respondents experienced short-term, long-term or permanent inability to work as health-care professionals; few however also reported a positive career development post-migration. Discrimination based on a foreign nationality, race or gender was reported by many of our respondents, physicians and nurses alike, whether they worked in an African or a European country. Our study shows that in addition to the phenomenon of deskilling often reported in GCC research, many female MHW are unable to work according to their qualifications due to the fact that their diplomas are not recognized in the country of destination. Policy strategies are needed regarding integration of migrants in the labour market and working against discrimination based on race and gender.

African leaders' views on critical human resource issues for the implementation of family medicine in Africa.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organisation has advocated for comprehensive primary care teams, which include family physicians. However, despite (or because of) severe doctor shortages in Africa, there is insufficient clarity on the role of the family physician in the primary health care team. Instead there is a trend towards task shifting without thought for teamwork, which runs the risk of dangerous oversimplification. It is not clear how African leaders understand the challenges of implementing family medicine, especially in human resource terms. This study, therefore, sought to explore the views of academic and government leaders on critical human resource issues for implementation of family medicine in Africa. METHOD: In this qualitative study, key academic and government leaders were purposively selected from sixteen African countries. In-depth interviews were conducted using an interview guide. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. RESULTS: There were 27 interviews conducted with 16 government and 11 academic leaders in nine Sub-Saharan African countries: Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda. Respondents spoke about: educating doctors in family medicine suited to Africa, including procedural skills and holistic care, to address the difficulty of recruiting and retaining doctors in rural and underserved areas; planning for primary health care teams, including family physicians; new supervisory models in primary health care; and general human resource management issues. CONCLUSIONS: Important milestones in African health care fail to specifically address the human resource issues of integrated primary health care teamwork that includes family physicians. Leaders interviewed in this study, however, proposed organising the district health system with a strong embrace of family medicine in Africa, especially with regard to providing clinical leadership in team-based primary health care. Whilst these leaders focussed positively on entry and workforce issues, in terms of the 2006 World Health Report on human resources for health, they did not substantially address retention of family physicians. Family physicians need to respond to the challenge by respondents to articulate human resource policies appropriate to Africa, including the organisational development of the primary health care team with more sophisticated skills and teamwork.

Understanding of family medicine in Africa: a qualitative study of leaders' views.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization encourages comprehensive primary care within an ongoing personalised relationship, including family physicians in the primary healthcare team, but family medicine is new in Africa, with doctors mostly being hospital based. African family physicians are trying to define family medicine in Africa, however, there is little clarity on the views of African country leadership and their understanding of family medicine and its place in Africa. AIM: To understand leaders' views on family medicine in Africa. DESIGN AND SETTING: Qualitative study with in-depth interviews in nine sub-Saharan African countries. METHOD: Key academic and government leaders were purposively selected. In-depth interviews were conducted using an interview guide, and thematically analysed. RESULTS: Twenty-seven interviews were conducted with government and academic leaders. Responders saw considerable benefits but also had concerns regarding family medicine in Africa. The benefits mentioned were: having a clinically skilled all-rounder at the district hospital; mentoring team-based care in the community; a strong role in leadership and even management in the district healthcare system; and developing a holistic practice of medicine. The concerns were that family medicine is: unknown or poorly understood by broader leadership; poorly recognised by officials; and struggling with policy ambivalence, requiring policy advocacy championed by family medicine itself. CONCLUSION: The strong district-level clinical and leadership expectations of family physicians are consistent with African research and consensus. However, leaders' understanding of family medicine is couched in terms of specialties and hospital care. African family physicians should be concerned by high expectations without adequate human resource and implementation policies.