Campaign overview

What are Positive Practice Environments?

Positive practice environments (PPE) are cost-effective health care settings that support excellence and decent work, have the power to attract and retain staff and to improve patient satisfaction, safety and outcomes. Characteristically such settings:

  1. ensure the health, safety and well-being of staff;
  2. support quality patient care;
  3. improve the motivation, productivity and performance of individuals and organisations.

Today’s health workforce crisis

The global health workforce crisis is a pressing reality. Too many countries have dramatic shortages side by side with pools of unemployed and underemployed health professionals. The reasons for the crisis are complex, but key are unhealthy, unproductive work environments characterised by:

  • occupational hazards;
  • physical and psychological violence;
  • unreasonable work loads;
  • insufficient remuneration;
  • limited career development opportunities;
  • general deterioration of working conditions.

Such poor work environments have an equally negative impact on the recruitment and retention of health professionals, the performance and cost-effectiveness of health facilities, and ultimately on patient outcomes. Much work needs to be done to reverse the current downward trend and make positive practice environments the norm across all health sectors.

The campaign for positive change

It is for this reason that key stakeholders - International Council of Nurses, International Hospital Federation, International Pharmaceutical Federation, World Confederation for Physical Therapy, World Dental Federation, World Medical Association and the Global Health Workforce Alliance - are initiating the campaign for positive practice environments, focused on positive change in the health care workplace so as to advance the quality of health services. Over the course of a 5-year campaign stakeholders aim to:

  • Make the case for healthy, supportive work environments, through evidence of their positive impact on staff recruitment/retention, patient outcomes and health sector performance.
  • Build a global platform - a catalogue of good practices in healthy, supportive workplaces.
  • Drive a sustained trend in establishing and applying the principles of positive practice environments across the health sector.
  • Celebrate success in support of effective strategies that promote sustainable health systems.

Who can participate?

The campaign is open to all countries, settings and health disciplines. The global campaign materials are open for adaptation to suit local preferences and activity should evolve so as to engage indigenous support and action.

Campaign products

Each year will deliver a suite of campaign products. A non-exhaustive list includes:

  • Advocacy toolkit presenting evidence of the beneficial impact of PPEs in both industrialised and lower-income countries. Focus/theme to vary each year.
  • A web based, user-friendly library of PPE reference materials, research, standards and tools.
  • Best practice guidelines for the health workplace, e.g. human resources management, occupational health and safety.
  • Field-friendly tools for managers and staff addressing critical work environment topics, e.g. accreditation, occupational health and safety, staffing levels.
  • Checklist and accreditation criteria for a PPE.
  • Recognition mechanism for health care workplaces achieving positive practice environments.
  • Communications platform for dissemination of the latest research and field experiences in the area of PPE.

Results and outcomes

The campaign aims to result in the following:

  • 30% increase in health sector funding for strengthening practice environments.
  • 40% of countries within each WHO region engaged in the campaign.
  • 40% of all countries utilising campaign tools at the national/local level.
  • Evidence based reports on:
    • patient outcomes (e.g. fewer system / medical errors, lower nosocomial infection rates, decreased length of patient stay, fewer readmissions, reduced “failure to rescue” rates, etc);
    • improved patient satisfaction;
    • improved retention and recruitment of staff, due to improved work environment;
    • decreased staff absenteeism, burnout, etc.
  • Global consensus on the elements making up positive practice environments.
  • A World Health Day devoted to positive practice environments.
  • Elements of PPEs included as part of health facility accreditation processes.

Sponsorship

The Global Health Workforce Alliance in collaboration with the core partners has sponsored the start-up, pilot phase and implementation of the Positive Practice Environments Campaign.