Policy interventions that attract nurses to rural areas: a multicountry discrete choice experiment
D Blaauw, E Erasmus, N Pagaiya, V Tangcharoensathein, K Mullei, S Mudhune, C Goodman, M English & M Lagarde
Volume 88, Number 5, May 2010, 350-356
Table 2. Methods for selecting attributes included in discrete choice experiment for assessing the effectiveness of policies to attract nurses to rural areas in Kenya, South Africa and Thailand, 2006
| Method | Objective(s) | Details |
|---|---|---|
| International literature review | • Identify strategies that have been used to attract health workers to underserved areas in HICs and LMICs • Review evidence on the effectiveness of existing strategies |
• Systematic search and review of relevant literature |
| Review of the HR DCE literature | • Identify attributes that have been used in previous HR DCEs • Review relative importance of selected attributes |
• Systematic search and review of relevant literature |
| Review of ministry of health HR policy documents | • Identify policy interventions that have been implemented or proposed in each country | • Systematic search and review of HR policy documents in each country |
| Key informant interviews with relevant policy-makers | • Identify policy interventions implemented or proposed in each country. • Identify planned policy strategies for the future • Assess feasibility of strategies tried in other countries |
• Semi-structured interviews with 3–5 senior policy-makers responsible for HR in ministry of health in each country |
| Focus group discussions with nursing students | • Obtain student suggestions on important job characteristics and required policy interventions | • Focus group discussion in each country with 6–9 final year nursing students from nursing college not selected for final study • Semi-structured discussion on factors considered in job choices and attitudes towards working in rural areas |
| Pilot study | • Test understanding of DCE task and tool format • Confirm understanding and relevance of DCE attributes and levels |
• 10–20 nursing students in each country from different colleges completed draft tool • Semi-structured discussion on responses to DCE tool and attributes • DCE results analysed for consistency |
DCE, discrete choice experiment; HIC, high-income country; HR, human resource; LMIC, low- and middle-income country.