Understanding health system resilience to respond to COVID-19 in a federalised context: a case study of health workforce management at sub-national level in Nepal

Partners: HERD International, Queen Margaret University and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

This study examined health sector policy, preparedness and responses to COVID-19 in Nepal, focusing on policies, provisions and implementation approaches for health workforce management at the sub-national level. It explored Nepal’s health system resilience and the lessons learnt from its COVID-19 response, and aimed to understand if and how it demonstrated absorption, adaptation and transformation to support resilient health system.

The study focused on understanding the health workforce management system in this federalised context as a tracer for the wider health system, at the local level for COVID-19 response and in the delivery of non-COVID routine health services. This is helping us develop a framework for future research in health workforce management.

Outputs

• Read a BMC Health Services Research paper from this study: Understanding health system resilience in responding to a pandemic: experience and lessons from an evolving context of federalization in Nepal
• Read a presentation based on this work: Understanding health system resilience to respond to COVID-19: a case study of COVID-19 policy response and health workforce management in Nepal
• Read the full report on this study: Understanding health system resilience to respond to COVID-19 in a federalised context
• Read a policy brief based on this work: Health sector policy responses and health workforce management during COVID-19 in Nepal: Lessons for building resilient health systems
• View a poster on this work: presented by the HERD team at HSR2022
• Watch a presentation based on this work: Health sector policy responses for human resources for health during COVID-19

Image: Nepal Shot in Arm – A young girl gets a COVID-19 vaccine at a U.S. supported vaccine clinic outside of Nepalgunj Bheri Hospital in Nepal. USAid via Flickr [opens new tab]