Building a Sustainable Healthcare Workforce Through Government Policies: Stratergic Insights From Migrated Professionals

The study assesses how existing government policies affect the migration decisions of healthcare workers in Kerala. A structured questionnaire with Likert-scale items was used to collect data from 50 migrated healthcare professionals, evaluating their perceptions on policy effectiveness, financial incentives, professional development, work–life balance, and job security. A one-sample t-test was conducted to determine whether these factors had substantial impact on migration decisions. This study suggests that migrated health professionals believe current government policies plays significant role on their migration decisions. The findings indicate that current financial incentives and policies are ineffective whereas effective workforce planning, collaborative initiatives, greater investment in healthcare could serve as effective strategies to retain healthcare workers. The study examines the vital role of policy measures in shaping migration patterns and offers evidence-based insights for developing retention strategies in Kerala’s healthcare system. It also emphasizes the importance of using the experiences of migrated professionals to develop evidence-based retention policies, guiding policymakers in developing focused plans to reduce out-migration and strengthen the healthcare workforce in Kerala.