Influence Of Attitudes And Personal Values On Willingness To Remain In Rural Areas Among Human Resource For Health In Tanzania: A Case Of Kigoma And Tabora Regions

ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of attitudes and personal values on willingness to remain in rural areas among Human Resource for Health (HRH) in Tanzania. The study was conducted in Kigoma and Tabora regions as they have the lowest HRH densities, where, two districts were selected from each region. The study employed explanatory cross-sectional survey using data collected in one point of time. The study involved 230 participants who responded to questionnaire and 11 key informants who were interviewed. The collected data were processed and analysed, where, qualitative data were analysed using Framework Analysis, while quantitative data were subjected to Descriptive Statistics and Logistic Regression model. The findings of the study showed that, HRH in rural areas have positive attitudes towards rural job posts. It was also revealed that, all personal values in Schwartz‘s Taxonomy of Values are common among HRH in rural areas. The study also discovered that, willingness of HRH to remain in rural areas is influenced by their attitudes towards the job itself and sense of community. The study also found out that, power, self-direction and security values influence willingness to remain in rural areas among HRH. The findings of study imply that, in order to enhance willingness of HRH to remain in rural areas, improvements with respect to job rotation, availability of drugs and medical equipment, as well as orientation to new recruits are required. On top of that, it entails establishment of mechanisms with respect to identification, production and allocation of HRH who have high scores of power, self-direction and security values.