Presentation given by Joanna Raven on ReBUILD's work on health systems in post-conflict states, at a Workshop on Rebuilding Health in Yemen after Conflict, 4th June 2016 in Liverpool
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Health systems in post-conflict states - Learning from the ReBUILD programme
1. Health systems in post-conflict states
Learning from the ReBUILD
programme
Joanna Raven
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Workshop on Rebuilding Health in
Yemen after Conflict
4th June 2016, Liverpool
Research for stronger health systems post conflict
2. Background on ReBUILD
Post conflict is a
neglected area
of health
system research
Opportunity
to set health
systems in a
pro-poor
direction
Useful to think
about what
policy space
there is in the
immediate
post-conflict
period
Choice of
focal
countries
enable distance
and close up
view of post
conflict
Decisions made early post-conflict can steer the long term
development of the health system
Research for stronger health systems
post conflict
3. ReBUILD’s research and partnership
• Countries:
• Sierra Leone
• Cambodia
• Northern Uganda
• Zimbabwe
• plus several ‘affiliate’ projects in other
countries
• Partners:
• In all cases, working with national partners
• UK partners:
• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
• Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Health
financing
Gender &
equity
Health
workforce
Aid
architecture
Contracting
models
ReBUILD’s
research
Research for stronger health systems post conflict
4. Health Needs
of population
(demand)
Health
services
(supply)
Conflict and crisis
creates change
Howcandecisionsmadeearlypost-conflictor
crisissteerthelongtermdevelopmentofthe
healthsystem?
Thematic
areas
Actors & networks
Policy and power
Vulnerability
Household structure
Accessing
healthcare
Resource flows
Attraction/retention
Posting
Policy making
Effects and
responses
Institutions
Health
workers
Communities
Strongerhealthsystemspostconflictandcrisis
Research
question
Enhancedvulnerability
Gender
5. Institutions
• Post-conflict brings networks of diverse actors
• Different priorities; fragmented approaches
• Can overwhelm national/local capacity
• State actors role must be kept strong
• Resource flows controlled by external actors:
• ‘Vertical programmes’ v ‘systems’
• Resources must follow need
• Need national coordination/scrutiny
• Policy & power:
• Policy often externally driven.
• Lack of local ownership; weak implementation.
• External actors powerful at local level
Gulu District
HIV Treatment Service Networks; Gulu, northern Uganda
6. Institutions
• Post-conflict brings networks of diverse actors
• Different priorities; fragmented approaches
• Can overwhelm national/local capacity
• State actors role must be kept strong
• Resource flows controlled by external actors:
• ‘Vertical programmes’ v ‘systems’
• Resources must follow need
• Need national coordination/scrutiny
• Policy & power:
• Policy often externally driven.
• Lack of local ownership; weak implementation.
• External actors powerful at local level
Gulu District
HIV Treatment Service Networks; Gulu, northern Uganda
Service
delivery
Relevant building blocks
Financing
Governance
7. Health workers
• Attraction and retention in underserved areas
• Local staff & mid-level cadres more likely to
work in remote areas
• To work in remote areas workers need:
• recognition of role and achievements in
challenging circumstances
• practical measures to improve their security
• provision of decent housing, working conditions
and pay
• trust, communication and teamwork
• Posting
• Take workers’ preferences in terms of job
location increases retention
• Policy making
• Local actors need to lead health worker policy
process
• Gender
• Gender needs to be integrated in all new health
worker regulations and policies
8. Health workers
• Attraction and retention in underserved areas
• Local staff & mid-level cadres more likely to
work in remote areas
• To work in remote areas workers need:
• recognition of role and achievements in
challenging circumstances
• practical measures to improve their security
• provision of decent housing, working conditions
and pay
• trust, communication and teamwork
• Posting
• Take workers’ preferences in terms of job
location increases retention
• Policy making
• Local actors need to lead health worker policy
process
• Gender
• Gender needs to be integrated in all new health
worker regulations and policies
Relevant building blocks
Human
resources
9. Communities
• Household structure
• Increased proportion of female headed
households
• Conscription, impact of conflict and the missing
generation of children
• Vulnerability and resilience
• Increasing numbers of people with disability
• Female headed households - disadvantaged or
resilient?
• Accessing healthcare
• Draw on resources from households, extended
family, gifts and small loans from communities
10. Communities
• Household structure
• Increased proportion of female headed
households
• Conscription, impact of conflict and the missing
generation of children
• Vulnerability and resilience
• Increasing numbers of people with disability
• Female headed households - disadvantaged or
resilient?
• Accessing healthcare
• Draw on resources from households, extended
family, gifts and small loans from communities
Financing
Service
delivery
Relevant building blocks
11. More information, resources & networks
• ReBUILD Consortium website – www.rebuildconsortium.com
• All ReBUILD resources, updates and further information
• HSG Thematic Working Group on Health Systems in Fragile and Conflict Affected
States
• A wider network of actors interested in health systems research and
strengthening in fragile and conflict-affected settings
• Building Back Better
• Resources and case studies on gender and post-conflict health systems
14. Research for stronger health systems post conflict
Website:
www.rebuildconsortium.com
Contact:
nick.hooton@lstmed.ac.uk
@ReBUILDRPC
Thank you
Editor's Notes
Slide 2: Key starting points: decisions made early post-conflict can steer the long-term development of the health system
In countries affected by conflict health systems often break down, and emergency assistance is often the main source of care. As recovery begins so should the process of rebuilding health systems. However, in practice not enough is known about the effectiveness of different approaches to health systems strengthening.
Consortium purpose: “Decisions on health systems financing and human resources policy in post-conflict countries draws on research evidence from ReBUILD and the wider knowledge generated on post conflict health settings”
Explain how we built the ReBUILD partnership and the use of affiliates to broaden our reach
Retrospective view – so weve lokked at what ha happened to the health system during the conflict through the experiences of communities and health workers during the conflict and afterwards
We have looked at the health system in terms of both demand for health services and supply of appropriate service
ReBUILD is in it’s 5th year
We have covered the following areas in ReBUILD (follow animations); today we will focus on 4 areas: understanding the impact of conflict/crisis on the demand side – how might these shocks influence this; and understanding the response from the service delivery side – systems to support the health workforce and aid effectiveness; and although all our work deals with health system resilience, we finish with an example of group modelling to understand the operationalisation of health systems resilience
But before we move the research, we want to say that we have been working hard to develop links with potential users of the research findings (as we are happy to be doing now). This has been done in the countries where the research has been done. But we have also been developing networks to bring together researchers, implementers, policy-makers and funders to share information on this under-researched area.
Actors and networks:
Post-conflict ‘window’ brings networks of diverse actors with different priorities and approaches to rebuilding health systems.
Fragmentation will have negative impact on rebuilding health systems and can overwhelm national and sub-national capacity.
Need to strengthen role of state actors to move towards a domestically owned health system
Resource flows:
Resource flows need to be coordinated and scrutinised by national actors, who are accountable for allocative decisions
Fragmentation of systems means decisions over resource allocation often taken by external actors. Decisions favour ‘vertical programmes’ (e.g. disease control) over ‘systems’ (e.g. workforce strengthening)
Resources need to follow need, not ease/availability of capable organizations in the area
Policy & power:
Weak national capacity may lead to policy being externally driven. Lack of local ownership therefore results in weak implementation.
External actors also powerful at local level – leads to inequality of inter-organisational networks/resources
Actors and networks:
Post-conflict ‘window’ brings networks of diverse actors with different priorities and approaches to rebuilding health systems.
Fragmentation will have negative impact on rebuilding health systems and can overwhelm national and sub-national capacity.
Need to strengthen role of state actors to move towards a domestically owned health system
Resource flows:
Resource flows need to be coordinated and scrutinised by national actors, who are accountable for allocative decisions
Fragmentation of systems means decisions over resource allocation often taken by external actors. Decisions favour ‘vertical programmes’ (e.g. disease control) over ‘systems’ (e.g. workforce strengthening)
Resources need to follow need, not ease/availability of capable organizations in the area
Policy & power:
Weak national capacity may lead to policy being externally driven. Lack of local ownership therefore results in weak implementation.
External actors also powerful at local level – leads to inequality of inter-organisational networks/resources
Attraction and retention
Conflict forces staff to flee or adapt.
Staff can show great resilience in coping with crisis. Often they innovate to continue providing services when facilities, staff, drugs, supplies and indeed finance and pay are lacking.
Local staff and mid-level cadres, commonly female, have shown more willingness to stay in remote areas in some settings.
What is needed to support staff to stay and work in underserved areas after conflict – this includes more recognition of their role and achievements in challenging circumstances, practical measures to improve their security and provision of decent housing, working conditions and pay. Rebuilding trust, communication and teamwork is also key.
Posting
Taking into account workers’ preferences in terms of work location is always important but even more so during crises. If too rigid about where to post staff, this can lead to staff leaving, which in turn can affect service delivery (e.g. lack of HRH to deliver care and overload of remaining workers leading to low motivation and eventually more attrition).
Human resources policy-making
HRH policies are often driven by external players in the post-conflict period and commonly fail to engage with the realities of low financing, conflicting political priorities, weak institutions, patchy implementation and gender inequities.
Gender
Most human resources for health regulatory frameworks did not sufficiently address gender concerns (with the possible exception of Cambodia). Key priority areas for addressing gender equity in the health workforce in fragile and conflict-affected settings include
ensuring gender is integrated into policies and regulations fostering dialogue and action to support change for gender equity within institutions and households.
Attraction and retention
Conflict forces staff to flee or adapt.
Staff can show great resilience in coping with crisis. Often they innovate to continue providing services when facilities, staff, drugs, supplies and indeed finance and pay are lacking.
Local staff and mid-level cadres, commonly female, have shown more willingness to stay in remote areas in some settings.
What is needed to support staff to stay and work in underserved areas after conflict – this includes more recognition of their role and achievements in challenging circumstances, practical measures to improve their security and provision of decent housing, working conditions and pay. Rebuilding trust, communication and teamwork is also key.
Posting
Taking into account workers’ preferences in terms of work location is always important but even more so during crises. If too rigid about where to post staff, this can lead to staff leaving, which in turn can affect service delivery (e.g. lack of HRH to deliver care and overload of remaining workers leading to low motivation and eventually more attrition).
Human resources policy-making
HRH policies are often driven by external players in the post-conflict period and commonly fail to engage with the realities of low financing, conflicting political priorities, weak institutions, patchy implementation and gender inequities.
Gender
Most human resources for health regulatory frameworks did not sufficiently address gender concerns (with the possible exception of Cambodia). Key priority areas for addressing gender equity in the health workforce in fragile and conflict-affected settings include
ensuring gender is integrated into policies and regulations fostering dialogue and action to support change for gender equity within institutions and households.
Household structure
Conflict has impacts on household structure.
For example, in Uganda, the proportion of female headed households has increased, as have the associations between households being headed by a woman, and indicators of poverty.
In other contexts where children have been targeted through conscription, or have simply been more vulnerable to the indirect impacts of conflict, there is a ‘missing generation’ of children affects both household and extended family structures.
Since households and extended families provide financial and social support, this affects the extent to which people are able to access health care; and are protected from impoverishing costs.
Vulnerability and resilience
Poverty, gender, and age are generally associated with capacities for resilience or vulnerabilities in all communities.
Conflict creates new vulnerabilities, for example by increasing the numbers of:
People with disability
Female headed households that may for example be disadvantaged in labour markets and
Households and extended families that are missing a generation through war-related deaths, abductions and migration.
Sometimes these are also sources of resilience./ strength / coping - for example in some contexts, female headed households have been shown to prioritise spending on health care health expenditure more than male headed ones, even though they may have less to spend.
Accessing healthcare
The costs of accessing health care are most commonly sourced by drawing on resources available across the household, and in the absence of sufficient resources at household level, then from the extended family.
Communities also facilitate access to health care through mutual support mechanisms such as small loans and gifts.
These are important sources of resilience to health related shocks during conflict affected periods.
People’s access to health care is therefore affected by changes to household and extended family structures
Household structure
Conflict has impacts on household structure.
For example, in Uganda, the proportion of female headed households has increased, as have the associations between households being headed by a woman, and indicators of poverty.
In other contexts where children have been targeted through conscription, or have simply been more vulnerable to the indirect impacts of conflict, there is a ‘missing generation’ of children affects both household and extended family structures.
Since households and extended families provide financial and social support, this affects the extent to which people are able to access health care; and are protected from impoverishing costs.
Vulnerability and resilience
Poverty, gender, and age are generally associated with capacities for resilience or vulnerabilities in all communities.
Conflict creates new vulnerabilities, for example by increasing the numbers of:
People with disability
Female headed households that may for example be disadvantaged in labour markets and
Households and extended families that are missing a generation through war-related deaths, abductions and migration.
Sometimes these are also sources of resilience./ strength / coping - for example in some contexts, female headed households have been shown to prioritise spending on health care health expenditure more than male headed ones, even though they may have less to spend.
Accessing healthcare
The costs of accessing health care are most commonly sourced by drawing on resources available across the household, and in the absence of sufficient resources at household level, then from the extended family.
Communities also facilitate access to health care through mutual support mechanisms such as small loans and gifts.
These are important sources of resilience to health related shocks during conflict affected periods.
People’s access to health care is therefore affected by changes to household and extended family structures
One of our successful networks is through the thematic working group that Suzanne and I help run which now has over 400 members. That’s how Bob contacted me for this session. It could be a resource for the teams working in Syria and other fragile and conflict-affected states that DFID is working in.
With that, let’s move to our first presentation ….
[notes will be updated]
Slide 1: Title slide – with names of team presenting – in order of presentations
Introduce team and thanks for
We proposed this area of health systems research as we knew – and have subsequently confirmed through our literature reviews – that it was a neglected area of health systems research. The new DFID aid strategy, and those of other donors, has reinforced the importance of this area and we are very pleased to be given the opportunity of sharing our research findings in this important meeting.