Transforming Health Care in South Africa: A Summary Evaluation of The Atlantic Philanthropies' Nursing Programme

Nursing in South Africa has long been neglected, in part because of the turmoil brought about by apartheid. This lack of attention has had dire implications for the vast majority of South Africans who rely on the public health system for health care.From 2006-2012, The Atlantic Philanthropies invested $32.8 million to revitalise, develop and restore pride in the nursing profession in South Africa.Atlantic's investments focused on strengthening: (1) institutions that train nurses; (2) professional development of nurses; (3) research capacity; and (4) nurse leadership.ImpactA 2012 evaluation by Strategic Evaluation, Advisory & Development Consulting (SEAD) found that Atlantic's investment in the nursing sector has "had a major catalytic and sustainable positive impact." Outcomes include:Increased government funding and commitment to nursingIncreased number of nursesImproved infrastructure for institutions of higher educationStrengthened professional development for nursesStrengthened nurse leadership.Lessons and ChallengesSEAD's report also noted several challenges including: (1) a lack of technical skills from grantees in managing complex programmes; (2) difficulty recruiting appropriately qualified nursing students and filling specialist slots; (3) disappointing graduation rates of nurses from 4-year programmes; (4) delays in government funding and approval; and (5) sustainability of funded programmes.The report concludes with a number of lessons that may be useful to other funders seeking to contribute to the revitalisation of nursing in South Africa and other countries

Transforming the Workforce to Provide Better Chronic Care: The Role of Nurse Care Managers in Rhode Island

This series explores the evolution of primary care systems to better meet the needs of consumers with complex health conditions. It demonstrates that changes in the workforce are required to empower consumers to better manage their health.The series is a collaboration of the National Academy for State Health Policy and the AARP Public Policy Institute. We recognize that it takes a team of skilled professionals to deliver improved chronic care. In this series, we focus on how registered nurses -- who make up the largest segment of the health care workforce -- are being deployed in ambulatory delivery systems to take on new roles. Future series will focus on other members of the health care team.We selected six initiatives that offer replicable policy strategies to develop, implement, and sustain patient-centered approaches to care. Each case study highlights one of these initiatives and provides policy recommendations and an "on-the-ground" look at the work of its nurses

Applications of lean thinking: a briefing document

This report has been put together by the Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC) at the University of Salford for the Department of Health. The need for the report grew out of two main simple questions, o Is Lean applicable in sectors other than manufacturing? o Can the service delivery sector learn from the success of lean in manufacturing and realise the benefits of its implementation?The aim of the report is to list together examples of lean thinking as it is evidenced in the public and private service sector. Following a review of various sources a catalogue of evidence is put together in an organised manner which demonstrates that Lean principles and techniques, when applied rigorously and throughout an entire organization/unit, they can have a positive impact on productivity, cost, quality, and timely delivery of services

Goodbye to Projects? ¿ A livelihoods-grounded audit of the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) in Uganda

Approaches to projects and development have undergone considerable change in the last decade with significant policy shifts on governance, gender, poverty eradication, and environmental issues. Most recently this has led to the adoption and promotion of the sustainable livelihood (SL) approach. The adoption of the SL approach presents challenges to development interventions including: the future of projects and programmes, and sector wide approaches (SWAPs) and direct budgetary support.This paper `A livelihoods-grounded audit of the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture in Uganda¿ is the fourteenth in the series of project working papers.Department for International Developmen

Making space for proactive adaptation of rapidly changing coasts: a windows of opportunity approach

Coastlines are very often places where the impacts of global change are felt most keenly, and they are also often sites of high values and intense use for industry, human habitation, nature conservation and recreation. In many countries, coastlines are a key contested territory for planning for climate change, and also locations where development and conservation conflicts play out. As a “test bed” for climate change adaptation, coastal regions provide valuable, but highly diverse experiences and lessons. This paper sets out to explore the lessons of coastal planning and development for the implementation of proactive adaptation, and the possibility to move from adaptation visions to actual adaptation governance and planning. Using qualitative analysis of interviews and workshops, we first examine what the barriers are to proactive adaptation at the coast, and how current policy and practice frames are leading to avoidable lock-ins and other maladaptive decisions that are narrowing our adaptation options. Using examples from UK, we then identify adaptation windows that can be opened, reframed or transformed to set the course for proactive adaptation which links high level top-down legislative requirements with local bottom-up actions. We explore how these windows can be harnessed so that space for proactive adaptation increases and maladaptive decisions are reduced

Small Investments, Big Changes: A 10-Year Review of the Casey Fellow's Mini-Grants Program

Evaluates the impact of a self-governed program designed to support Children and Family Fellowship alumni's leadership and innovation. Examines lessons learned and challenges, including in performance measurement and budgeting. Includes grants list