Grant: Operating Grant: Programmatic Grants to tackle health and health equity

Working conditions are an important determinant of health equity. Health workers globally face increasingly difficult working conditions. This is particularly so the case in low and middle income countries, especially Africa, where work overload, inadequate supplies and the challenges of HIV and TB contribute to burnout, stress, and low morale. The World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, and the Joint agency created by the UN to tackle AIDS, have been increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of this (predominantly female) workforce. Gender-sensitive policy recommendations were advanced to strengthen occupational health and infection control programs, prevent discrimination, reduce stigma and improve access of health workers to the prevention, care and support they need. This program was designed to address research gaps identified in the guidelines and to expand knowledge on promoting health equity through improving working conditions generally and for health workers in particular. With six interlinked studies, this program of research aims to improve understanding of how the various pathways to health stemming from global economic forces impact health equity within, and between, countries regarding working conditions for health workers; to implement and evaluate a complex multi-component public health intervention (based on the WHO-ILO-UNAIDS Guidelines); ascertain the determinants of successful training; evaluate state-of-the-art information technology for knowledge transfer; and produce economic evaluation and budgeting tools. This research program will be conducted by an interdisciplinary international team of experienced experts, with numerous trainees. While focusing on implementation of population health interventions in Africa, the research also draws data worldwide to study the implementation of a much-needed multi-component approach to an important determinant of health equity.