Lab Matters Fall 2025 | Page 29

GLOBAL HEALTH

By Natalie Martinez, specialist, Global Health; Reshma Kakkar, senior manager, Global Health; Hewan Moges, specialist, Global Health; Matthew McCarroll, principal specialist, Global Health; Kasimona Sichela, senior informatics technical manager, Zambia; Elias Munshya, senior specialist, Informatics, Zambia; Nelson Akenga, senior specialist, Informatics, Kenya; and Rufus Nyaga, deputy country director, Kenya

designed to inform supervisors and interviewees of their strengths and knowledge gaps, thereby providing a foundation for developing personalized professional development plans.

This past April, APHL hosted in-person workshops to introduce and pilot this new assessment tool in Kenya and Zambia. These workshops brought together Ministry of Health representatives, APHL staff and laboratory personnel from selected pilot sites. Participants included 20 individuals in Kenya and 21 in Zambia.

Senior Informatics Specialist Nelson Akenga provides technical assistance to Zambian participants. Photo: APHL.

Workforce competency assessments are integral for ensuring the quality, safety and efficiency of laboratory testing. A competent workforce, as measured by international standards such as ISO 15189, is the foundation of a high-performing public health laboratory. However, a significant challenge in measuring the competency of laboratorians has been the lack of structured online digital assessment tools. Historically, managers and staff have often relied on cumbersome and time-consuming paper-based evaluations. To address this, APHL developed an online Laboratory Workforce Competencies Assessment Tool, aiming to enhance accessibility and functionality in competency evaluations. This tool enables users to conduct workforce competency assessments and visualize results within and across facilities in each jurisdiction. It also allows for one-time assessments, comparisons or repeat assessments over time.

A key feature of the tool is its ability to facilitate both self-assessments and supervisor-led assessments across various essential laboratory workforce competency domains. Currently, the Laboratory Informatics domain is the only one incorporated into the tool, however, future plans are to include Quality Management Systems, Emergency Management Response, Communications, Security, Management & Leadership and Ethics. The assessment results are

During the workshops, the tool was subjected to several use-case scenarios, and feedback and recommendations were gathered for improvement of the tool. Attendees confirmed that the online tool was more accessible and easier to administer than previous methods. They also noted its effectiveness in highlighting areas needing improvement. The tool summary reports were also reported to be useful for supervisors to more aptly plan professional development activities for their staff.

The next phase of the Laboratory Workforce Competency Assessment Tool’ s development will focus on incorporating additional domains from the Laboratory Workforce Competency Framework and implementing other enhancements based on the recommendations gathered during the workshops, all aimed at providing a robust user experience and improved quality standards for laboratory accreditation.

For more information on the Laboratory Workforce Competency Assessment Tool please contact Hewan Moges specialist, Global Health. g