Strengthening Health Professional Associations: Insights from Health Leaders in Tanzania

The USAID-funded African Strategies for Health (ASH) Project collaborated with the Survive & Thrive Global Development Alliance (GDA),[1] East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC)[2] and the Regional Centre for Quality of Healthcare (RCQHC)[3] to co-organize and co-lead a workshop during the Regional Forum on Maternal and Newborn Health in Arusha, Tanzania in August 2013. The workshop, facilitated by staff of the ASH and LMG Projects had participants from 42 regional and national health professional associations from 16 countries in the ECSA-HC region. The focus of the workshop, well-attended by leaders from professional associations across Africa, was to identify the challenges faced by health professional associations, and identify strategies for addressing them.

Although the workshop focused specifically on the challenges faced by clinical professional associations, readers are encouraged to use this document to stimulate conversations about how professional associations can better support health managers in Africa and elsewhere around the world.

Priority Challenges Facing Health Professional Associations

Confidential polling conducted during the Arusha workshop of over 70 health professional leaders resulted in the identification of and ranking by relative importance of ten (10) key challenges to the vitality and success of Regional and National Health Professional Associations (See table below).

Priority Strategies for Strengthening Health Associations

During the workshop, participants worked in small groups focusing on five basic strategies to strengthen health professional associations:

Strategy 1: Enhance members’ engagement and enthusiasm for the Association

Strategy 2: Develop and Implement a New Strategic Plan for the Association

Strategy 3: Ensure Association is Responsive to Member Needs

Strategy 4: Develop diverse sources of funding for association activities

Strategy 5: Strengthen the Governance and Management of the Association

The small groups then identified actions that could be taken to advance each strategy—their detailed responses are listed below:

Strategy 1: Enhance members’ engagement and enthusiasm for the Association

Set up infrastructure for better invitations for engagement in all aspects of the association affairs, such as:
- Up to date directory of member contact information, profile of interests, prior educational achievements
- Update use of social media to listen to and communicate with members
- Experiment with SMS methods of two way communication
- Do periodic web or email polling of member opinions and needs
- Re-examine committee and task force structures to allow for more opportunities for involvement and engagement and two communications
- Web-based publication of calendar of all association activities,
- 24/7 access to contacts information on committee leadership and governing body leaders

Assign board members to clusters of association members and communicate with them about ways to encourage member engagement opportunities
Establish or strengthen local chapters or district sub-groups to foster engagement and communication among members and governing body members
Send summary of governing body activities and minutes or quarterly reports to members in easy to read style
Organize special interest groups among members with similar interest or locations

Strategy 2: Develop and Implement a New Strategic Plan for the Association

Publish current plan and invite further reactions, inputs and validation
Create culture of more bottom-up planning, not just top down from the staff and board. Involve members, vendors, potential donors, and other stakeholders, including the public
Conduct strategic planning and budgeting process that is driven by changing needs of the profession and members
Review strategic plans from similar associations in ECSA and from US and Europe
Conduct open, honest and transparent review of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis)
Share draft with members for input and refinement
Post final plan on web portal

Strategy 3: Ensure Association is Responsive to Member Needs

Make sure staff and governing body members are good listeners, and have coaching on good communication skills
Publish a detailed profile of membership by work locations, experience, ages, gender, locations
Publish and celebrate profiles on members that are doing good work in the profession
Develop an advocacy plan to reach media, MOH, and public about how the association serves the needs of public, patients and members
Develop systems and technologies for two way listening and communications with members
Conduct annual survey for member feedback on needs, ideas and performance review of the work of the association
Develop committee and task force structures that are responsiveness to member needs
Conduct periodic evaluations of degree to which association is meeting its members’ needs

Strategy 4: Develop diverse sources of funding for association activities

Develop an accurate financial budget and sustainability plan that gives targets for fund raising
Develop a Master Fund Raising Plan that addresses practical ways to pursue and secure funding from sources such as:
- Member dues
- Pharmaceutical and suppliers’ grants and contracts
- Contracts and grants from MOH, foundations and philanthropists
- In-kind donations of supplies, office space, office equipment, internet services and systems

Develop committees to champion alternative income generating projects and co-ventures with companies that offer services and products needed by members
Develop investment strategy and use fund managers to optimize interest income
Explore debt financing to accelerate service value to members

Strategy 5: Strengthen the Governance and Management of the Association

Review constitution and by-laws to define the proper size, structure and composition for governing body and staff secretariat
Review job descriptions and ideal competencies for governing body board members
Develop updated organizational chart for association that shows all staff, committees, task forces and special project groups
Publish clear process and criteria for board service, and recruit diverse and talented candidates
Publish bylaws and governance policies and procedures on web portal
Explore sharing staff with other associations to save money or attract dynamic leadership team
Make all association governance and leadership decision-making processes transparent
Conduct annual performance reviews of board, committees, board members and staff

Leaders from ministries of health, health professional associations and universities should use these five strategies to explore how to establish and support lifelong learning for health sector managers.