The South Australian Allied Health Workforce survey: helping to fill the evidence gap in primary health workforce planning

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deirdre Whitford ◽  
Tony Smith ◽  
Jonathan Newbury
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Full Time ◽  
The South ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Primary Health

There is a lack of detailed evidence about the allied health workforce to inform proposed health care reforms. The South Australian Allied Health Workforce (SAAHW) survey collected data about the demographic characteristics, employment, education and recruitment and retention of allied health professionals in South Australia. The SAAHW questionnaire was widely distributed and 1539 responses were received. The average age of the sample was 40 years; males were significantly older than females, the latter making up 82% of respondents. Three-quarters of the sample worked in the city; 60% worked full time and the remainder in part-time, casual or locum positions. ‘Work–life balance’ was the most common attraction to respondents’ current jobs and ‘Better career prospects’ the most common reason for intending to leave. Practice in a rural location was influenced by rural background and rural experience during training. A greater proportion of Generation Y (1982–2000) respondents intended to leave within 2 years than Generation X (1961–81) or Baby Boomers (1943–60). Most respondents were satisfied with their job, although some reported lack of recognition of their knowledge and skills. Systematic, robust allied health workforce data are required for integrated and sustainable primary health care delivery.

Best Practice and Allied Health

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Jill Thoroughgood
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Models Of Care ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Primary Health

In this paper, issues are discussed relating to the provision of quality allied health advice, and the focus of the allied health program in primary health care and community health settings in the Peninsula and Torres Strait Region of Queensland, since Regionalisation in 1991. It was apparent to allied health professionals working in community health, that the change process presented an opportunity to influence not only the Regional Health Authority, but also to act as a united voice for the professions and to be advocates for best practice models of care for the community. Why do allied health professionals need to be utilised in an advisory role in community based health settings? What are the impacts on policy, planning, and on the services provided by community health care workers? How can allied health advisers enhance the quality of outcomes of best practice for the consumers of community health programs? Allied health advisers are important for the whole health sector by ensuring that effective and appropriate allied health services are delivered, that there are increases in allied health resources, that there are improvements in health outcomes for clients, that primary health care models of care are implemented, and, finally, that best practice is implemented by the allied health professional.

Exploration of an allied health workforce redesign model: quantifying the work of allied health assistants in a community workforce

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Somerville ◽  
Annette Davis ◽  
Sarah Milne ◽  
Desiree Terrill ◽  
Kathleen Philip
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Health Care Setting ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
The Right ◽  
Ambulatory Health Care

The Victorian Assistant Workforce Model (VAWM) enables a systematic approach for the identification and quantification of work that can be delegated from allied health professionals (AHPs) to allied health assistants (AHAs). The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of implementation of VAWM in the community and ambulatory health care setting. Data captured using mixed methods from allied health professionals working across the participating health services enabled the measurement of opportunity for workforce redesign in the community and ambulatory allied health workforce. A total of 1112 AHPs and 135 AHAs from the 27 participating organisations took part in the present study. AHPs identified that 24% of their time was spent undertaking tasks that could safely be delegated to an appropriately qualified and supervised AHA. This equates to 6837 h that could be redirected to advanced and expanded AHP practice roles or expanded patient-centred service models. The VAWM demonstrates potential for more efficient implementation of assistant workforce roles across allied health. Data outputs from implementation of the VAWM are vital in informing strategic planning and sustainability of workforce change. A more efficient and effective workforce promotes service delivery by the right person, in the right place, at the right time. What is known about this topic? There are currently workforce shortages that are predicted to grow across the allied health workforce. Ensuring that skill mix is optimal is one way to address these shortages. Matching the right task to right worker will also enable improved job satisfaction for both allied health assistants and allied health professionals. Workforce redesign efforts are more effective when there is strong data to support the redesign. What does this paper add? This paper builds on a previous paper by Somerville et al. with a case study applying the workforce redesign model to a community and ambulatory health care setting. It provides evidence that this workforce redesign model enables data to be collected to identify the opportunity for redesign in the allied health workforce in this clinical setting. What are the implications for practitioners? There are career pathways and opportunity for growth in the allied health assistant workforce in the community and ambulatory health care setting. These opportunities will need to be coupled with the development of supervision and delegation skills in the allied health professional workforce to ensure that an integrated workforce is built to provide optimal clinical care in the community and ambulatory setting.

A local study of costs for private allied health in Australian primary health care: variability and policy implications

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen L. Pearce-Brown ◽  
Laurie Grealish ◽  
Ian S. McRae ◽  
Kirsty A. Douglas ◽  
Laurann E. Yen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Local Study ◽  
Primary Health

Multidisciplinary approaches to primary health care improve outcomes for individuals living with chronic conditions. However, emerging evidence suggests access to allied health professionals in Australia is problematic. This paper reports findings of a telephone survey of allied health professionals’ billing practices in one urban area. The survey was undertaken as a quality improvement project in response to the affordability queries raised by patients and carers in the clinical setting. The aim was to determine financial cost of access to allied health professionals in one urban primary health care setting. Participant practices included: physiotherapy (n = 21), podiatry (n = 8) and dietitians (n = 3). Fees were variable, with cost of the initial (assessment) appointment higher than subsequent (follow-up) appointments in 92% of practices. The average out of pocket expenses for assessment and three follow-up appointments ranged from $258 to $302. When available, the Medicare rebate reduced this to $58–106. Bulk billing was not offered. Variable costs, minimal concessions and absence of bulk billing in this confined geographical area creates a cost barrier to access for patients from lower socioeconomic groups and has implications for access to multidisciplinary care in Australian primary health care.

scholarly journals Building a culture of research dissemination in primary health care: the South Australian experience of supporting the novice researcher

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Ried ◽  
Jeffrey Fuller
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Research Evaluation ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Health Care Research ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
The South ◽  
Research Dissemination ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Australian Experience

The Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) program in Australia aims to build research capacity in primary health care. In South Australia, the program (PHCREDSA) has addressed skill building in dissemination of research findings by providing support for peer reviewed publication. The support included comprehensive advice and feedback for novice and inexperienced researchers and writers in the publication process of the program?s 2003 Conference Proceedings. This paper describes the South Australian experience of supporting novice researchers in research dissemination by applying the PHCRED-SA capacity building support model.

Evidence-informed primary health care workforce policy: are we asking the right questions?

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucio Naccarella ◽  
Jim Buchan ◽  
Peter Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Health Care Workforce ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Workforce Policy

Australia is facing a primary health care workforce shortage. To inform primary health care (PHC) workforce policy reforms, reflection is required on ways to strengthen the evidence base and its uptake into policy making. In 2008 the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute funded the Australian Health Workforce Institute to host Professor James Buchan, Queen Margaret University, UK, an expert in health services policy research and health workforce planning. Professor Buchan’s visit enabled over forty Australian PHC workforce mid-career and senior researchers and policy stakeholders to be involved in roundtable policy dialogue on issues influencing PHC workforce policy making. Six key thematic questions emerged. (1) What makes PHC workforce planning different? (2) Why does the PHC workforce need to be viewed in a global context? (3) What is the capacity of PHC workforce research? (4) What policy levers exist for PHC workforce planning? (5) What principles can guide PHC workforce planning? (6) What incentives exist to optimise the use of evidence in policy making? The emerging themes need to be discussed within the context of current PHC workforce policy reforms, which are focussed on increasing workforce supply (via education/training programs), changing the skill mix and extending the roles of health workers to meet patient needs. With the Australian government seeking to reform and strengthen the PHC workforce, key questions remain about ways to strengthen the PHC workforce evidence base and its uptake into PHC workforce policy making.

scholarly journals Analysis of the primary health care state for the rural population at the regional level

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
M. G. Moskvicheva ◽  
M. M. Polinov
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rural Population ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Primary Health

Introduction. The main goal of the state policy in the field of healthcare is to form a system that ensures the availability of medical care and increases the efficiency of medical services. The volume, type and quality of medical care must correspond to the level of morbidity, the needs of the population and the advanced achievements of medical science. Primary health care is the backbone of the health care delivery system. The problem of it improvement, including in rural areas, is a priority and has national significance. The development of measures to increase the availability of primary health care according to the territorial principle is an urgent scientific and practical problem.The purpose of the study — based on the analysis, methodologically substantiate and develop measures to increase the availability and improve the system of organizing the provision of primary health re to the rural population on a territorial basis.Materials and methods. Mathematical-statistical and analytical (quantitative, structural, comparative) research methods were used.Results and Discussion. In the Chelyabinsk Region, there are disproportions in the provision of the population with medical personnel: the provision of the urban population with doctors and l personnel is significantly higher than that of the rural population. The indicator of staffing with paramedical personnel in full-time positions of feldsher-obstetric stations is 20.1% lower than in the Russian Federation. The index of "combination rate" among doctors working in outpatient departments is 1.2 times higher than the target indicator of the National Health Project, and in rural areas it is 1.1 times. In order to unify the organizational and methodological approaches, the authors proposed a classification of medical stations and their organizational and functional structure.Conclusions. The organization of the provision of primary health care to the rural population according to the territorial-district principle with the formation of an organizational model of the rural medical district will increase the availability of primary medical health care to the rural population.

Nurse Practitioner Challenges to the Orthodox Structure of Health Care Delivery: Regulation and Restraints on Trade

1985 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-225
Author(s):  
Karla Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Care Delivery ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Nurse Practitioner ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Allied Health Care

AbstractUntil recently, physicians have been the primary health care providers in the United States. In response to the rising health care costs and public demand of the past decade, allied health care providers have challenged this orthodox structure of health care delivery. Among these allied health care providers are nurse practitioners, who have attempted to expand traditional roles of the registered nurse.This article focuses on the legal issues raised by several major obstacles to the expansion of nurse practitioner services: licensing restrictions, third party reimbursement policies, and denial of access to medical facilities and physician back-up services. The successful judicial challenges to discriminatory practices against other allied health care providers will be explored as a solution to the nurse practitioners’ dilemma.

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