ArticleBMC health services research2023
Task shifting roles, interventions and outcomes for kidney and cardiovascular health service delivery among African populations: a scoping review.
Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Feasibility, efficacy and effectiveness of community health worker-facilitated hearing aid provision: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Capacity and site readiness for hypertension control program implementation in Nigeria: A nationwide cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Pediatricians' Perspectives on Task Shifting in Pediatric Care: A Nationwide Survey in Japan.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Assessing Task-Shifting Progress in Obstetrics and Gynecology: A Nationwide Survey of Japanese Obstetricians and Gynecologists.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Observational
- Lupus and other autoimmune diseases: Epidemiology in the population of African ancestry and diagnostic and management challenges in Africa.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. Global · 2024Review
- Progress of nations in the organisation of, and structures for, kidney care delivery between 2019 and 2023: cross sectional survey in 148 countries.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Article
- Landscape of kidney replacement therapy provision in low- and lower-middle income countries: A multinational study from the ISN-GKHA.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Task Sharing and Task Shifting (TSTS) in the Management of Africans with Hypertension: A Call For Action-Possibilities and Its Challenges.Global heart · 2024Review
- Task-Shifting: Can Community Health Workers Be Part of the Solution to an Inactive Nation?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
28 authors at 15 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuman resources for health (HRH) shortages are a major limitation to equitable access to healthcare. African countries have the most severe shortage of HRH in the world despite rising communicable and non-communicable disease (NCD) burden. Task shifting provides an opportunity to fill the gaps in HRH shortage in Africa. The aim of this scoping review is to evaluate task shifting roles, interventions and outcomes for addressing kidney and cardiovascular (CV) health problems in African populations.
methodsWe conducted this scoping review to answer the question: "what are the roles, interventions and outcomes of task shifting strategies for CV and kidney health in Africa?" Eligible studies were selected after searching MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL, ISI Web of Science, and Africa journal online (AJOL). We analyzed the data descriptively.
resultsThirty-three studies, conducted in 10 African countries (South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda) were eligible for inclusion. There were few randomized controlled trials (n = 6; 18.2%), and tasks were mostly shifted for hypertension (n = 27; 81.8%) than for diabetes (n = 16; 48.5%). More tasks were shifted to nurses (n = 19; 57.6%) than pharmacists (n = 6; 18.2%) or community health workers (n = 5; 15.2%). Across all studies, the most common role played by HRH in task shifting was for treatment and adherence (n = 28; 84.9%) followed by screening and detection (n = 24; 72.7%), education and counselling (n = 24; 72.7%), and triage (n = 13; 39.4%). Improved blood pressure levels were reported in 78.6%, 66.7%, and 80.0% for hypertension-related task shifting roles to nurses, pharmacists, and CHWs, respectively. Improved glycaemic indices were reported as 66.7%, 50.0%, and 66.7% for diabetes-related task shifting roles to nurses, pharmacists, and CHWs, respectively.
conclusionDespite the numerus HRH challenges that are present in Africa for CV and kidney health, this study suggests that task shifting initiatives can improve process of care measures (access and efficiency) as well as identification, awareness and treatment of CV and kidney disease in the region. The impact of task shifting on long-term outcomes of kidney and CV diseases and the sustainability of NCD programs based on task shifting remains to be determined.
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Registered trials
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