Essay on Regulatory Interventions in Rural Health

Regulatory measures can be described as those exercises controlled by the government through various tools such as administrative and policies among others. Various regulatory steps can be taken, and they include parliamentary laws, regulations instituted by states and policies. In addition there are guidelines formulated by respective ministries and instituted program guidance. Concerning recruitment and retentions of workers in this context, some of the regulatory decisions include the provision of wide range of health workers, expansion of the scope of practice, compulsory servicer requirements and bonding schemes among others.

Health workers in rural areas context in most cases offer services beyond the context in which they are trained. This is contributed by the lack of other qualified health workers. In dealing with these, regulatory measures can be instituted to widen the scope of practice which would also help health workers to offer services that are beyond their traditionally known jurisdiction and training. This would be critical in promoting accessibility of health services for the populations in the rural and remote areas (Chan, 2010). There are different types health workers used in the provision of health needs for the population in the remote and rural areas. Regulatory interventions can be the reduction in training costs, the reduced duration of training and promotion of rural placements. This would be critical in increasing health workforce in rural areas. Another intervention is compulsory service that is described as ensuring there is the mandatory working for a specified period. This would promote the accessibility of health services to a population of in rural areas (Chan, 2010). As part of promoting health services accessibility in the rural areas, it would be necessary to incorporate education subsidies to compulsory placements. Bursaries, stipends and professional scholarships should be attached to a requirement that the student should work in rural areas for a specified period.

Rural health departments are having facing problems concerning the attraction and retaining the appropriate constitution of health professionals. There is also the increasing need for the enhancement of educational opportunities to cater for the new and emerging concerns. Such opportunities would include having rural medical programs which would be critical in preparation and recruitment of health workforce for rural and remote areas (Hsueh, Wilkinson & Bills, 2004). There is need to institute regulatory measures to direct advocates and policymakers in how workers are recruited, trained, placed and retained in the rural areas (Johnson, 2000). It means there is the need for health workers service rural environment should be motivated through using appropriate strategies. Regulatory intervention can be used in improving the presence of health workforce in these areas by improving their retention (Dolea, Stormont, Zum, Shaw & Braichet, 2009). Some intervention includes measures to train health workforce with rural background since there is a high likelihood that they will serve in rural areas. It would be also critical in ensuring that the curricula are adapted for the rural issues for the improvement of competences and creation of interests to providing services in the rural areas. There are also regulations to increase monetary compensation since it is thoughts that financial incentives might have a positive effect encouraging rural health practice (Dolea, 2009). Another regulatory measure is foreign recognition of qualifications, but it mostly applies to the physicians in the rural areas. Additionally, it would be important to ensure students from the rural areas are facilitated into universities (Mbemba, Gagnon, Pare & Cote, 2013).

It is critical to have measures that ensure health staff can go in rural areas and offer their services to the local population. In this case, there was an evaluation of how effective an incentive policy intervention can impact on the health workers in the rural areas. It has been seen that monetary intervention are crucial in attracting health workforce in the rural areas (Jing et al., 2016). The public health systems and especially in the rural areas face a lack of enough health workers. There are patients in this areas and some in dire need. However, there has been trouble attracting highly skilled health workers (Blaauw et al., 2010). The use of regulatory interventions would essential in enhancing staffing in rural areas and thereby improving the accessibility and quality of services.

Conclusively, the lack of enough health staff in rural areas where their services are primarily needed is a critical issue facing public health systems. There is the tendency that patients with dire needs live in rural and remote areas. It, therefore, it is of utmost importance to institute regulatory interventions that attract skilled health workers. These efforts should be designed to help in recruiting the appropriate staff, ensuring they are trained on rural issues and the efforts are made to retain them. Another essential strategy is the appropriate education system that ensures health workers are trained on health issues most prevalent in rural areas. Additionally, the curricula should be designed to ensure students are placed in these areas for a predetermined period.

References

Blaauw, D., Erasmus, E., Pagaiya, N., Tangcharoensathein, V., Mullei, K., & Mudhune, S. et al. (2010). Policy interventions that attract nurses to rural areas: a multicounty discrete choice experiment. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 88(5), 350-356. http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/blt.09.072918

Chan, M. (2010). Increasing access to health workers in remote and rural areas through improved retention Global policy recommendations. World Health Organization. Retrieved 3 November 2017, from

Dolea, C. (2009). Increasing access to health workers in remote and rural areas through improved retention. K4health.org. Retrieved 3 November 2017, from https://www.k4health.org/sites/default/files/WHO_Increasing%20rural%20access%20to%20health%20workers.pdf

Dolea, C., Stormont, L., Zurn, P., Shaw, D., & Braichet, J. (2009). Increasing access to health workers in remote and rural areas through improved retention. Who.int. Retrieved 3 November 2017, from http://www.who.int/hrh/migration/background_paper.pdf

Hsueh, W., Wilkinson, T., & Bills, J. (2004). What evidence-based undergraduate interventions promote rural health?

Jing, L., Liu, K., Zhou, X., Wang, L., Lou, J., & Sun, X. (2016). Effectiveness of an incentive policy intervention for rural health-care providers: a longitudinal survey in Shanghai. Retrieved 3 November 2017, from

Johnson, R. (2000). Rural Public Health: Issues and Considerations. Hrsa.gov. Retrieved 3 November 2017, from https://www.hrsa.gov/advisorycommittees/rural/publichealthfeb2000.pdf

Mbemba, G., Gagnon, M., Pare, G., & Cote, J. (2013). Interventions for supporting nurse retention in rural and remote areas: an umbrella review. Human Resources for Health, 11(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-11-44