Browsing by Author "Amde, Woldekidan Kifle"

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    Barriers to voluntary counseling and testing of individuals in selected areas of the gurage zone, Ethiopia
    (2008) Amde, Woldekidan Kifle; Esau, Michelle
    Despite wide acceptance of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) as a crucial entry point for the prevention, treatment, care and support of HIV-infected persons; the prevalence of testing in Ethiopia remains very low. A review of the literature identifies the set of factors that influence HIV testing of individuals to include socio-economic and demographic factors, knowledge of HIV/AIDS, risk perception, fear of stigma, social capital and the perceived benefit of VCT. By drawing assumptions based on the known literature, this mini-thesis explores the relationship between VCT usage and the above factors in order to explain the status of HIV testing in Moher and Aklil district, Gurage Zone, Ethiopia. The study hopes to address the dearth of material on VCT and contribute to it in a non-clinical and rural context.
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    Building capacity to develop an African teaching platform on health workforce development: a collaborative initiative of universities from four sub Saharan countries
    (BioMed Central, 2014) Amde, Woldekidan Kifle; Sanders, David; Lehmann, Uta
    INTRODUCTION: Health systems in many low-income countries remain fragile, and the record of human resource planning and management in Ministries of Health very uneven. Public health training institutions face the dual challenge of building human resources capacity in ministries and health services while alleviating and improving their own capacity constraints. This paper reports on an initiative aimed at addressing this dual challenge through the development and implementation of a joint Masters in Public Health (MPH) programme with a focus on health workforce development by four academic institutions from East and Southern Africa and the building of a joint teaching platform. METHODS: Data were obtained through interviews and group discussions with stakeholders, direct and participant observations, and reviews of publications and project documents. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. CASE DESCRIPTION: The institutions developed and collaboratively implemented a ‘Masters Degree programme with a focus on health workforce development’. It was geared towards strengthening the leadership capacity of Health ministries to develop expertise in health human resources (HRH) planning and management, and simultaneously build capacity of faculty in curriculum development and innovative educational practices to teach health workforce development. The initiative was configured to facilitate sharing of experience and resources. DISCUSSION: The implementation of this initiative has been complex, straddling multiple and changing contexts, actors and agendas. Some of these are common to postgraduate programmes with working learners, while others are unique to this particular partnership, such as weak institutional capacity to champion and embed new programmes and approaches to teaching. CONCLUSIONS: The partnership, despite significant inherent challenges, has potential for providing real opportunities for building the field and community of practice, and strengthening the staff and organizational capacity of participant institutions. Key learning points of the paper are: *the need for long-term strategies and engagement; *the need for more investment and attention to developing the capacity of academic institutions; *the need to invest specifically in educational/teaching expertise for innovative approaches to teaching and capacity development more broadly; and *the importance of increasing access and support for students who are working adults in public health institutions throughout Africa.
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    Determinants of effective organisational capacity training: Lessons from a training programme on health workforce development with participants from three African countries
    (BMC, 2019) Amde, Woldekidan Kifle
    Health systems in sub-Saharan Africa face multifaceted capacity challenges to fulfil their mandates of service provision and governance of their resources. Four academic institutions in Africa implemented a World Health Organisation-funded collaborative project encompassing training, curriculum development, and partnership to strengthen national leadership and training capacity for health workforce development
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    Exploring multiple job holding practices of academics in public health training institutions from three sub-Saharan Africa countries: drivers, impact, and regulation
    (Taylor & Francis, 2018) Amde, Woldekidan Kifle; Sanders, David; Chilundo, Baltazar; Rugigana, Etienne; Mariam, Damen Haile; Lehmann, Uta
    BACKGROUND: The paper examines external multiple job holding practices in public health training institutions based in prominent public universities in three sub-Saharan Africa countries (Rwanda, Ethiopia, Mozambique). OBJECTIVE: The study aims to contribute to broadening understanding about multiple job holding (nature and scale, drivers and reasons, impact, and efforts to regulate) in public health training schools in public universities. METHODS: A qualitative multiple case study approach was used. Data were collected through document reviews and in-depth interviews with 18 key informants. Data were then triangulated and analyzed thematically. RESULTS: External multiple job holding practices among faculty of the three public health training institutions were widely prevalent. Different factors at individual, institutional, and national levels were reported to underlie and mediate the practice. While it evidently contributes to increasing income of academics, which many described as enabling their continuing employment in the public sector, many pointed to the negative effects as well. Similarities were found regarding the nature and drivers of the practice across the institutions, but differences exist with respect to mechanisms for and extent of regulation. Regulatory mechanisms were often not clear or enforced, and academics are often left to self-regulate their engagement. Lack of regulation has been cited as allowing excessive engagement in multiple job holding practice among academics at the expense of their core institutional responsibility. This could further weaken institutional capacity and performance, and quality of training and support to students. CONCLUSION: The research describes the complexity of external multiple job holding practice, which is characterized by a cluster of drivers, multiple processes and actors, and lack of consensus about its implication for individual and institutional capacity. In the absence of a strong accountability mechanism, the practice could perpetuate and aggravate the fledgling capacity of public health training institutions.
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    The politics and practice of initiating a public health postgraduate programme in three universities in sub-Saharan Africa: The challenges of alignment and coherence
    (Springer Nature, 2020) Amde, Woldekidan Kifle; Sanders, David M.; Sidat, Mohsin M.
    In-country postgraduate training programme in low and middle income countries are widely considered to strengthen institutional and national capacity. There exists dearth of research about how new training initiatives in public health training institutions come about. This paper examines a south-south collaborative initiative wherein three universities based in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Mozambique set out to develop a local based postgraduate programme on health workforce development/management through partnership with a university in South Africa. Methods: We used a qualitative case study design. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 36 key informants, who were purposively recruited based on their association or proximity to the programme, and their involvement in the development, review, approval and implementation of the programme. We gathered supplementary data through document reviews and observation. Thematic analysis was used and themes were generated inductively from the data and deductively from literature on capacity development. Results: University A successfully initiated a postgraduate training programme in health workforce development/management.
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    Unpacking the capacity development: A Systems exploration of a partnership of Africa universities to develop capacity in health workforce
    (University of Western Cape, 2020) Amde, Woldekidan Kifle; Lehmman, Uta; Sanders, David; Marchal, Bruno
    Health system in Sub-Saharan in Africa face multifaceted capacity challenges to fulfil their mandates of service provision and governance of their resources. Wide-ranging capacity development interventions exist to address these limitations. however, failure to take into account complexity into planning and implementation in the practice and research of these capacity development intervention predominate , hindering understanding and learning, and resulting in poor implementation or lack of sustainability of the capacity gains.