What do we mean by individual capacity strengthening for primary health care in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic scoping review to improve conceptual clarity

Abstract

Background Capacity strengthening of primary health care workers is widely used as a means to strengthen health service delivery, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of capacity strengthening to improve access to quality health care, how the term ‘capacity strengthening’ is both used and measured varies substantially across the literature. This scoping review sought to identify the most common domains of individual capacity strengthening, as well as their most common forms of measurement, to generate a better understanding of what is meant by the term ‘capacity strengthening’ for primary health care workers. Methods Six electronic databases were searched for studies published between January 2000 and October 2020. A total of 4474 articles were screened at title and abstract phase and 323 full-text articles were reviewed. 55 articles were ultimately identified for inclusion, covering various geographic settings and health topics. Results Capacity strengthening is predominantly conceptualised in relation to knowledge and skills, as either sole domains of capacity, or used in combination with other domains including self-efficacy, practices, ability, and competencies. Capacity strengthening is primarily measured using pre- and post-tests, practical evaluations, and observation. These occur along study-specific indicators, though some pre-existing, validated tools are also used. Conclusion The concept of capacity strengthening for primary health care workers reflected across a number of relevant frameworks and theories differs from what is commonly seen in practice. A framework of individual capacity strengthening across intra-personal, inter-personal, and technical domains is proposed, as an initial step towards building a common consensus of individual capacity strengthening for future work.

Anthrax hotspot mapping in Kenya support establishing a sustainable two-phase elimination program targeting less than 6% of the country landmass

“…The first phase, designed to shrink hotspots should be focused on enhanced animal and human surveillance in identified hotspots, followed by rapid response to outbreaks anchored on public education, proper carcass disposal, detection and treatment of infected humans, and targeted vaccination of livestock. During this phase, other interventions that should be rolled out include; (i) regular one-health capacity strengthening campaigns while increasing cross-disciplinary communication among health practitioners and laboratory diagnosticians in both animal (livestock and wildlife) and human sides [33][34][35] , (ii) improved community health that addresses the socio-cultural and economic determinants of anthrax spillover to humans [36][37][38] , and (iii) enhanced syndromic surveillance in wildlife 39 . Passive www.nature.com/scientificreports/ surveillance and response must also be maintained in other anthrax suitable areas that are not burden hotspots, and at low-risk areas.…”

Evaluation of a continuing professional development strategy on COVID-19 for 10 000 health workers in Ghana: a two-pronged approach

“…Outcomes: Health workers' capacity measurement was informed by Finn and Colleague's conceptual framework [ 33 ] and used five variables: Confidence in addressing misinformation about COVID-19 with patients, colleagues, and community members (5-point scale), Ability to communicate effectively to support individuals experiencing negative impact of COVID-19 (5-point scale), Recommending the COVID-19 vaccine to patients and colleagues, if available (5-point scale), Knowledge about COVID-19 using the score of a multiple-choice exam covering key aspects of the curriculum in each course (zero to 100), and Comfort level with e-learning (5-point scale). …”

Assessment and diagnosis of insomnia for clinical and research practice: a scoping review protocol

“…The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis: Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) Checklist (Tricco et al, 2018) will be used to detail the flow, by selecting the source and presenting the evidence, according to the JBI (Peters et al, 2020). Seeking to offer a straight forward process, with clarity and rigor in the evaluation (Finn et al, 2021), the scoping review methodology based on scoping review framework will be used, and its steps of scoping review process proposed by Peters et al (2015), are demonstrated below:…”