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Training Needs Assessment of Reproductive Health and Family Planning Leaders of Leadership Development Programs in Pakistan

Received: 16 April 2015    Accepted: 18 May 2015    Published: 8 June 2015
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Abstract

The issue of workforce training and competency is central to the success of any public health system. The first step in designing training is to conduct a need assessment for an effective training program. In this research, we have accessed the training needs of the leaders of Leadership Development Program for mobilizing reproductive health; the vision of program was to develop a critical mass of diverse leaders, who can work individually and collectively and their efforts can improve reproductive health options and overall quality of life, especially for vulnerable populations in Pakistan. A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data by means of self-administered questionnaires from Reproductive Health and family planning leaders of the Leadership Development program from all over Pakistan. A total of 40 reproductive and family planning leaders participated after informed consent through non-probability convenience sampling. It was found that responding to felt needs is important for improving performance in health care system. Uses of practical, problem based learning methods are generally not included in the trainings. The priority areas in the current health scenario of Pakistan as identified by the study participants include training in disaster management, budget management, emergency preparedness and monitoring and evaluation. Need of communication skills training for health education was also highlighted for better reproductive health of the Pakistani population. The study indicated that training needs of Reproductive health and family planning leaders were heterogeneous and differed within professions by the tasks performed. Therefore, it is important to assess the tasks performed and training needs in leadership program participants in order to allocate training resources appropriately. There should be a permanent system for reviewing training needs.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.22
Page(s) 538-543
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, 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 or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Leadership Development, Training Need Assessment, Reproductive Health and Family Planning leaders, Pakistan

References
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[2] Institute of Medicine. Who will keep the public healthy? Educating public health professionals in the 21st century. Washington: National Academies Press; 2003. Also available from: URL: http:// www.nap.edu/books/030908542X/html/
[3] Education for Health, Vol. 17, No. 3, November 2004, 346 – 353
[4] Public Health Functions Steering Committee. Essential public health services - Adopted 1994
[5] Tyssen R, Valglum P, Gronuold T, Nina T. The relative importance of individual and organizational factors for the prevention of job stress during internship: a nationwide and prospective study. Med Teach 2005; 27(8):726-31.
[6] Myers P: The objective assessment of general practitioners' educational needs: an under-researched area? Acad Med 1991, 66(12):762-769.
[7] Department of Health and Human Services (US). The public health workforce: an agenda for the 21st century. Washington: Department of Health and Human Services; 1997.
[8] Institute of International Education Projects. 2000. Reviewed July 2012
[9] Leadership Development for Mobilizing Reproductive Health (LDM). 2015 retrieved from http://www.iie.org/Programs/LDM
[10] Ajmal A, Amber S. Leadership Development for.Mobilizing Reproductive Health. (LDM) Pakistan Program. Evaluation Report. 2011 retrieved from www.iieldm.org/.../Pakistan%20Evaluation%20Full%20Report
[11] Perol D, Boissel JP, Broussole C, Cetr JC, Stagnara J, Chauvin F: A simple tool to evoke physician's real training needs. Acad Med 2002 , 77(5):407-410. Pub Med Abstract |
[12] Gordon MJ: A review of the validity and accuracy of self-assessments in health professions training. Br J Gen Pract 1999, 49(441):303-307. Pub Med Abstract | Publisher Full Text | PubMed Central Full Text
[13] Janice A. Miller, SPHR and Diana M. Osinski, SPHR. “Training Needs Assessment”, February 1996 Reviewed July 2002
[14] Zemke, Ron and Thomas Kramlinger. Figuring Things Out: A Trainer's Guide to Needs and Task Analysis. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1982.
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[16] Nadler,D. 1993. Concepts for the management and organizational change. P92 in managing change, ed C Mabey and B Mayor White. London: Paul Chapman/Open Univ.
[17] Zaeem Haq AH: Knowledge and communication needs assessment of community health workers in a developing country: a qualitative study. Human resources for health 2009, 7:59
[18] Council on Linkages Between Academia and Practice. Core competencies for public health professionals: a practical tool to strengthen the public health workforce. The Link 2001; 15(2): 13. Also available from: URL: http://www.trainingfinder.org /competencies/list.htm 7. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (US). Standard
[19] Asmat Ullah M, Devolution in Pakistan: implications for district health system. School of Population Health, University of Queensland.2012
[20] Barton JR: Academic training schemes reviewed: implications for the future development of our researchers and educators. Medical education 2008, 42(2):164-169.
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  • APA Style

    Sayeeda Amber Sayed, Agha Ajmal. (2015). Training Needs Assessment of Reproductive Health and Family Planning Leaders of Leadership Development Programs in Pakistan. Science Journal of Public Health, 3(4), 538-543. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.22

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    ACS Style

    Sayeeda Amber Sayed; Agha Ajmal. Training Needs Assessment of Reproductive Health and Family Planning Leaders of Leadership Development Programs in Pakistan. Sci. J. Public Health 2015, 3(4), 538-543. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.22

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    AMA Style

    Sayeeda Amber Sayed, Agha Ajmal. Training Needs Assessment of Reproductive Health and Family Planning Leaders of Leadership Development Programs in Pakistan. Sci J Public Health. 2015;3(4):538-543. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.22

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.22,
      author = {Sayeeda Amber Sayed and Agha Ajmal},
      title = {Training Needs Assessment of Reproductive Health and Family Planning Leaders of Leadership Development Programs in Pakistan},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {538-543},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.22},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20150304.22},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20150304.22},
      abstract = {The issue of workforce training and competency is central to the success of any public health system. The first step in designing training is to conduct a need assessment for an effective training program. In this research, we have accessed the training needs of the leaders of Leadership Development Program for mobilizing reproductive health; the vision of program was to develop a critical mass of diverse leaders, who can work individually and collectively and their efforts can improve reproductive health options and overall quality of life, especially for vulnerable populations in Pakistan. A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data by means of self-administered questionnaires from Reproductive Health and family planning leaders of the Leadership Development program from all over Pakistan. A total of 40 reproductive and family planning leaders participated after informed consent through non-probability convenience sampling. It was found that responding to felt needs is important for improving performance in health care system. Uses of practical, problem based learning methods are generally not included in the trainings. The priority areas in the current health scenario of Pakistan as identified by the study participants include training in disaster management, budget management, emergency preparedness and monitoring and evaluation. Need of communication skills training for health education was also highlighted for better reproductive health of the Pakistani population. The study indicated that training needs of Reproductive health and family planning leaders were heterogeneous and differed within professions by the tasks performed. Therefore, it is important to assess the tasks performed and training needs in leadership program participants in order to allocate training resources appropriately. There should be a permanent system for reviewing training needs.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Family Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

  • Department of Health Services Policy and Management, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA

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