Written by: EnCompass Staff

Global problems such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 require partnerships, knowledge exchange, and culturally appropriate evidence to build resilience and impact in health workforces, health systems, and communities. Today, on World AIDS Day 2020, EnCompass is proud to share a new resource documenting recommendations for integrating “coherence in complexity” in human resources for health (HRH) programs.

The suggested actions in this resource are based on discussions with stakeholder groups involved with the Government of Rwanda’s HRH Program. These learning sessions were conducted as follow-up to an evaluation of the program, which EnCompass supported.

This new resource moves beyond Rwanda’s borders, providing practical actions that can strengthen the health workforce in other settings. The suggested actions reflect considerations for evidence gathering and use, professional exchange programs, country-led approaches, and other areas where health workforce stakeholders can work together to create a coherent, effective, and resilient health system. They also apply to planning for other health workforce challenges, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

How to Use This Resource

The world needs more, and better, healthcare workers who can supports for people’s health and well-being in complex health systems. It is essential to find coherence in that complexity if we want an effective, resilient health workforce that can respond to longstanding challenges, such as HIV/AIDS, as well as new epidemics.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the importance of cooperation, coordination, and coherence in health systems around the world. Partnerships between governments, funders, universities, and other health and education institutions can have a significant impact on the size and quality of a country’s health workforce.

We invite practitioners, funders, policymakers, and researchers working to support their countries’ health systems to explore this new resource, as well as the full evaluation that inspired its creation. We hope you’ll let us know how you are addressing coherence in complexity in your programming.