| Abstract
Objective: To assess districts health managers' educational needs and develop management training programmes.
Methods: This mixed-method study was carried out between August 2014 and August 2015 in Tabriz, Iran. Four
focus group discussion sessions and three semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted among district
health managers and experts of a health centre. Besides, 52 questionnaires were completed to weigh and finalise
management education module and courses. Interviews and focus group discussions were tape-recorded,
transcribed and analysed using content analysis method. Data was analysed using SPSS17.
Results: There were 52 participants, of whom 40(78.8%) were men and 12(21.2%) were women. All of the subjects
(100%) took part in the quantitative phase, while 25(48.08%) participated in the qualitative phase. In the qualitative
section, 11(44%) participants were heads of unit/departments in provincial health centre and 14(56%) were district
healthmanagers. In the quantitative phase, 30(57.7%) participants were district healthmanagers and 8(28.8%) were
heads of units/departments.Moreover, 33(63.4%) participants hadmedical education. The job experience of 3(5.8%)
participants in the current position was below five years.
Districts health management training programme consisted of 10modules with 53 educational topics. The
normalised score out of a total of 100 for rules and ethics was 75.51, health information management 71.19,
management and leadership 69.27, district management 68.08, human resources and organisational creativity
67.58,quality improvement 66.6, health resources management 62.37, planning and evaluation 61.87, research in
health system 59.15, and community participation was 53.15.
Conclusion: Considering district health managers' qualification in health and medicine, they had not been trained
in basic management. Almost all the management and leadership courses were prioritised as most necessary. |