Table 2.
Papers included in a systematic review of health-care worker retention research in post-conflict settings, published 2000–20
| Study title | Author (year) | Country origin of data | Data collection strategy | Type of health-care worker | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why are you draining your brain? Factors underlying decisions of graduating Lebanese medical students to migrate | Akl et al. (2007) | Lebanon | Interviews and focus groups | Medical students | 23 |
| Did the post war repatriation of Lebanese physicians drive recent Lebanese medical graduates to emigrate? An observational study | Akl et al. (2008) | Lebanon | Routine HR data | Medical graduates and physicians | 10 918 |
| ‘Being a midwife is being prepared to help women in very difficult conditions’: midwives’ experiences of working in the rural and fragile settings of Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo | Baba et al. (2020) | Democratic Republic of Congo | Interviews | Midwives | 32 Life history interviews and 22 focus group participants |
| Challenges of providing health-care worker education and training in protracted conflict: a focus on non-government controlled areas in north west Syria | Bdaiwi et al. (2020) | Syria | Literature review | Various (both non-physicians and physicians) | N/A |
| Understanding health worker incentives in post-crisis settings: policies to attract and retain health workers in rural areas in Zimbabwe since 1997, a document review | Chirwa et al. (2014) | Zimbabwe | Document review | 76 | |
| Rehabilitation services in Benghazi, Libya: an organizational case study | El Sahly and Cusick (2016) | Libya | Case study | Nursing staff, physical therapists, prosthetic technicians and administrative staff | 72 |
| ‘Garang’s seeds’: influences on the return of Sudanese-Canadian refugee physicians to post-conflict South Sudan | Finlay et al. (2011) Baba et al. (2020) | South Sudan | Interviews | Medical doctors | 15 |
| Job Satisfaction and morale in the Ugandan Health Workforce: the Ministry of Health must focus on ways to keep health care workers from leaving their jobs—or leaving the country altogether | Hagopian et al. (2009) | Uganda | Survey | Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and pharmacy staff | 641 |
| Perceived determinants of brain drain among mental health care professionals in specialist health care facilities in Benin City | Okolo & Iruo (2021) | Nigeria | Survey | Mental health-care professionals in specialist health-care facilities | 371 |
| Posting policies don’t change because there is peace or war: the staff deployment challenges for two large health employers during and after conflict in Northern Uganda | Mangwi et al. (2019) | Uganda | Interviews | Doctors, clinical officers, nurses and midwives | 58 Interviews |
| Leaving no one behind: lessons on rebuilding health systems in conflict- and crisis-affected states | Martineau et al. (2017) | Uganda, Zimbabwe, Cambodia and Sierra Leone | Interviews | N/A | |
| Flexibility of deployment: challenges and policy options for retaining health workers during crisis in Zimbabwe | Mashange et al. (2019) | Zimbabwe | Document review and key informant interviews | Various | 76 Documents and 17 key informant interviews |
| Community midwifery initiatives in fragile and conflict-affected countries: a scoping review of approaches from recruitment to retention | Miyake et al. (2017) | Sudan, Afghanistan, Mali, Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia | Literature review | Community midwives | 23 |
| Revisiting post-war British medical migration: a case study of Bristol medical graduates in Australia | Mody (2018) | England | Mixed methods | Doctors | 16 |
| Policies to attract and retain health workers in Northern Uganda during and after conflict: findings of key informant interviews | Namakula and Witter (2014b) | Uganda | Interviews | Health planners, HR managers, representatives of professional associations, faith based orgs and development partners conducting activities | 25 |
| Health worker experiences of and movement between public and private not-for-profit sectors-findings from post-conflict Northern Uganda | Namakula et al. (2016) | Uganda | Interviews | Clinical officers, nurses, nursing assistants, midwives and others | 26 |
| Living through conflict and post-conflict: experiences of health workers in Northern Uganda and lessons for people-centred health systems | Namakula and Witter (2014a) | Uganda | Interviews | Mid-level health cadres | 26 |
| Intent to migrate among nursing students in Uganda: measures of the brain drain in the next generation of health professionals | Nguyen et al. (2008) | Uganda | Survey | Nursing students | 158 |
| Human resource management in post-conflict health systems: review of research and knowledge gaps | Roome et al. (2014) | N/A | Literature review | 56 Publications | |
| Rebuilding human resources for health: a case study from Liberia | Varpilah et al. (2011) | Liberia | Case Study | Nurses | N/A |
| The free health care initiative: how has it affected health workers in Sierra Leone? | Witter et al. (2016) | Sierra Leone | Routine HR data and survey | Maternal and Child Health Aide, State Enrolled Community Health Nurse, Environmental Health Officer, Community Health Assistant, Community Health Officer (CHO), State Registered Nurse, midwives, pharmacists, laboratory technicians and doctors | 23 Life histories, 23 key informant interviews and 312 survey responses |
| How do health workers experience and cope with shocks? Learning from four fragile and conflict-affected health systems in Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Cambodia | Witter et al. (2017d) | Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and Zimbabwe | Routine HR data and survey | Doctors, midwives, nurses, medical officers, CHWs/CHOs, medical assistant, nursing assistants and environmental health practitioners | 128 In-depth interviews |
| The gendered health workforce: mixed methods analysis from four fragile and post-conflict contexts | Witter et al. (2017c) | Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and Zimbabwe | Routine HR data and survey | Doctors, midwives, nurses, medical officers, CHWs/CHOs, medical assistant, nursing assistants and environmental health practitioners | 95 Key informant interviews, 102 in-depth interviews and 537 surveys |
| Why do people become health workers? Analysis from life histories in 4 post-conflict and post-crisis countries | Witter et al. (2018) | Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and Zimbabwe | Interviews | Doctors, midwives, nurses, medical officers, CHWs/CHOs, medical assistant, nursing assistants and environmental health practitioners | 103 |
| Factors influencing the retention of midwives in the public sector in Afghanistan: a qualitative assessment of midwives in eight provinces | Wood et al. (2013) Chirwa et al. (2014) | Afghanistan | Interviews and focus groups | Midwives | 53 Interviews and 38 focus group participants |
Papers retrieved through a literature search strategy described by Lin et al. (2022).