Serving through and after conflict: life histories of health workers in Sierra Leone
23 public sector health workers of different cadres, working in 4 regions of Sierra Leone, were interviewed
Abstract
To document the evolution of incentives for health workers post-conflict and their effects on human resources for health (HRH) and the health sector and to derive a recommendation package for retention of rural health workers from a health worker’s perception, a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews with health workers was conducted by ReBUILD in 2012-13. 23 public sector health workers of different cadres, working in 4 regions of Sierra Leone, were interviewed.
The study used a life history approach to explore health workers’ experiences over time, including their decision to join the health professional workforce, the choices they made in taking jobs, their satisfiers/dissatisfiers, their experience of conflict, and their perceptions of the effectiveness of different policy measures. These themes were analysed taking gender, urban/rural and cadre of health professional differences into account. The study has provided useful policy driven insights into how health workers perceive their professional careers and the incentive environment in Sierra Leone, which can be utilised by policy makers in the development of a long-term HRH development plan for quality service delivery.
This research is supported by the Department for International Development’s ReBUILD Programme which is led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Citation
Wurie, H.R.; Witter, S. Serving through and after conflict: life histories of health workers in Sierra Leone. (2014) 103 pp.
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