Lessons Learned: Assessing Occupational Safety Practices among Healthcare Workers in a Resource Limited setting - Haiti

Background /Issue:  According to WHO, 9% of the world’s healthcare workers are occupationally exposed to blood borne pathogens (BBP) every year.  Greater than 90% of this burden, or approximately 2.7 million health care workers, occurs in developing countries, such as Haiti.  In many developing countries, higher prevalence of HIV and hepatitis combined with limited access to personal protective equipment (PPE), poor water infrastructure, and post-exposure treatment protocols significantly increases the risk to healthcare workers and overall population health.

Description:  To better understand BBP exposure prevention policies and practices, in March 2015, an interprofessional team comprised of public health, nursing, and medicine professionals will conduct a mixed-method pilot study at three hospitals in Haiti: interviewing hospital administrative staff and surveying various healthcare workers (e.g. doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and environmental health workers). 

Lessons Learned:  A constructive analysis of the significant challenges and successes in planning and implementing an international interdisciplinary pilot study around BBP practices, as well as the cultural context of conducting research in Haiti, will be described.

Implications/Recommendations:

The overarching goal of the proposed pilot study is to protect the healthcare workforce by reducing their risk of BBP transmission exposure. Lessons learned in analyzing the preparation, planning, and implementation of this pilot study will supply evidence for avoiding pitfalls and building upon the realized successes to inform future studies in similar contexts. Study data will also be used to identify next steps in intervention evaluation and translational science research in under-resourced healthcare systems in the Caribbean and Central America.