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dc.contributor.authorLabonté, Ronald
dc.contributor.authorSanders, David
dc.contributor.authorMathole, Thubelihle
dc.contributor.authorCrush, Jonathan
dc.contributor.authorChikanda, Abel
dc.contributor.authorDambisya, Yoswa
dc.contributor.authorRunnels, Vivien
dc.contributor.authorPacker, Corinne
dc.contributor.authorMacKenzie, Adrian
dc.contributor.authorMurphy, Gail Tomblin
dc.contributor.authorBourgeault, Ivy Lynn
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-21T20:54:29Z
dc.date.available2016-03-21T20:54:29Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.identifier.citationLabonté, Ronald, David Sanders, Thubelihle Mathole, Jonathan Crush, Abel Chikanda, Yoswa Dambisya, Vivien Runnels, Corinne Packer, Adrian Mackenzie, Gail Tomblin Murphy, and Ivy Lynn Bourgeault. "Health Worker Migration from South Africa: Causes, Consequences and Policy Responses." Human Resources for Health Hum Resour Health 13.1 (2015): n. pag. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12960-015-0093-4en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1808/20541
dc.description.abstractBackground This paper arises from a four-country study that sought to better understand the drivers of skilled health worker migration, its consequences, and the strategies countries have employed to mitigate negative impacts. The four countries—Jamaica, India, the Philippines, and South Africa—have historically been “sources” of skilled health workers (SHWs) migrating to other countries. This paper presents the findings from South Africa.

Methods The study began with a scoping review of the literature on health worker migration from South Africa, followed by empirical data collected from skilled health workers and stakeholders. Surveys were conducted with physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists. Interviews were conducted with key informants representing educators, regulators, national and local governments, private and public sector health facilities, recruitment agencies, and professional associations and councils. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression models. Interview data were analyzed thematically.

Results There has been an overall decrease in out-migration of skilled health workers from South Africa since the early 2000s largely attributed to a reduced need for foreign-trained skilled health workers in destination countries, limitations on recruitment, and tighter migration rules. Low levels of worker satisfaction persist, although the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) policy (2007), which increased wages for health workers, has been described as critical in retaining South African nurses. Return migration was reportedly a common occurrence. The consequences attributed to SHW migration are mixed, but shortages appear to have declined. Most promising initiatives are those designed to reinforce the South African health system and undertaken within South Africa itself.

Conclusions In the near past, South Africa’s health worker shortages as a result of emigration were viewed as significant and harmful. Currently, domestic policies to improve health care and the health workforce including innovations such as new skilled health worker cadres and OSD policies appear to have served to decrease SHW shortages to some extent. Decreased global demand for health workers and indications that South African SHWs primarily use migratory routes for professional development suggest that health worker shortages as a result of permanent migration no longer pertains to South Africa.
en_US
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_US
dc.rightsThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://​creativecommons.​org/​licenses/​by/​4.​0/​), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://​creativecommons.​org/​publicdomain/​zero/​1.​0/​) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectHealth workersen_US
dc.subjectMigrationen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.subjectHuman resources for healthen_US
dc.subjectRetentionen_US
dc.subjectPhysiciansen_US
dc.subjectNursesen_US
dc.subjectPharmacistsen_US
dc.subjectDentistsen_US
dc.subjectPolicyen_US
dc.titleHealth worker migration from South Africa: causes, consequences and policy responsesen_US
dc.typeArticle
kusw.kuauthorChikanda, Abel
kusw.kudepartmentGeography & Atmospheric Scienceen_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/s12960-015-0093-4
dc.identifier.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1835-6895
kusw.oaversionScholarly/refereed, publisher version
kusw.oapolicyThis item meets KU Open Access policy criteria.
dc.rights.accessrightsopenAccess


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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://​creativecommons.​org/​licenses/​by/​4.​0/​), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://​creativecommons.​org/​publicdomain/​zero/​1.​0/​) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://​creativecommons.​org/​licenses/​by/​4.​0/​), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://​creativecommons.​org/​publicdomain/​zero/​1.​0/​) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.