How to attract health students to remote areas in Indonesia: a discrete choice experiment

Ferry Efendi, Ching Min Chen, Nursalam Nursalam, Nurul Wachyu Fitriyah Andriyani, Anna Kurniati, Susan Alison Nancarrow

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Remote areas of Indonesia lack sufficient health workers to meet the health-care needs of the population. There is an urgent need for evidence regarding interventions to attract health workers and specifically health students to serve in remote areas. The aim of this research was to analyze the job preferences of health students to develop effective policies to improve the recruitment and retention of health students in remote areas. Methods: A discrete choice experiment was conducted to investigate health students' preferences regarding job characteristics. This study was conducted in three different regions of Indonesia, with a total included 400 health students. Mixed logit models were used to explore the stated preferences for each attribute. Results: Data were collected from 150 medical, 150 nursing and 100 midwifery students. Medical students gave the highest preference for receiving study assistance, while nursing students viewed salary as the most important. Midwifery students valued advanced quality facilities as an important attribute. Conclusions: This study confirmed the importance of combination interventions in attracting and retaining health workers in remote areas of Indonesia. Money is not the only factor affecting student preferences to take up a rural post; good management and better facilities were viewed as important by all health students. Addressing health student preferences, which are the candidate of future health workforce, would help the nation solve the recruitment and retention issues.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)430-445
Number of pages16
JournalInternational Journal of Health Planning and Management
Volume31
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016 Oct 1

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Health Policy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'How to attract health students to remote areas in Indonesia: a discrete choice experiment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this