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.

Factors that contribute to high-quality clinical supervision of the rural allied health workforce: lessons from the coalface

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Martin ◽  
Katherine Baldock ◽  
Saravana Kumar ◽  
Lucylynn Lizarondo
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Supervision ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Rural And Remote ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Remote Health ◽  
Rural And Remote Health

Objective The aim of this study was to identify the factors contributing to high-quality clinical supervision of the allied health workforce in rural and remote settings. Methods This quantitative study was part of a broader project that used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Participants were 159 allied health professionals from two Australian states. Quantitative data were collected using an online customised survey and the Manchester Clinical Supervision Scale (MCSS-26). Data were analysed using regression analyses. Results Supervisee’s work setting and choice of supervisor were found to have a positive and significant influence on clinical supervision quality. Supervisee profession and time in work role were found to have a negative and significant influence on the quality of clinical supervision. Conclusions High-quality clinical supervision is essential to achieve quality and safety of health care, as well as to support the health workforce. Information on high-quality clinical supervision identified in this study can be applied to clinical supervision practices in rural and remote settings, and to professional support policies and training to enhance the quality of supervision. What is known about the topic? There is mounting evidence on the benefits of clinical supervision to health professionals, organisations and patients. Clinical supervision enhances recruitment and retention of the health workforce. However, there are still gaps regarding the factors that contribute to high-quality clinical supervision, especially for rural and remote health professionals. What does this paper add? This study, the first of its kind, recruited rural and remote health professionals from seven allied health disciplines across two Australian states. It investigated the factors that influence high-quality clinical supervision in this under-resourced group. This paper outlines specific factors that contribute to clinical supervision quality for rural and remote allied health professionals. What are the implications for practitioners? Effective and high-quality clinical supervision of the rural and remote allied health workforce can enhance recruitment and retention in those areas. Healthcare organisations can facilitate effective clinical supervision delivery by using the evidence gathered in this study in clinical supervision policy, training and practice.

Responding and adapting to change: an allied health perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-349
Author(s):  
Lisa Beasley ◽  
Sandra Grace ◽  
Louise Horstmanshof
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scoping Reviews ◽  
Change Leaders

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the response and adaption to change of allied health professionals. Understanding how individuals respond and adapt to change is essential to assist leaders to manage transformational change effectively. Contemporary health-care environments are characterised by frequent and rapid change, often with unrealistic and challenging time frames. Individuals operate independently, but also as members of teams, professions and organisations. Therefore, having a sound understanding of individual response to change is important for change leaders. In the Australian context, allied health professionals represent a quarter of the health-care workforce. There is a significant gap in understanding how allied health professionals respond and adapt to change. Design/methodology/approach A scoping review was designed to report on the nature and extent of the literature on the response and adaption to change in the context of allied health professionals. Change leaders in the health-care environment face a number of complex challenges when attempting to facilitate change. While this scoping review did not identify any specific literature on the response and adaption to change of allied health professionals, it did however provide information on change models and factors to take into consideration when implementing a change process. Findings The results of this scoping review identified findings in two main areas with regard to response and adaptation of allied health to change: a review of change management literature at the organisation level and change management for allied health. Most of the literature described organisational level change management without providing a structural framework for change. At the professional individual level, the literature focused on specific clinical interventions, rather than on the response and adaption to change for allied health. Minimal literature was identified in regard to the response and adaption to change of allied health professionals. In an environment characterised by continuous change and policy reform, a greater understanding of the response and adaption to change by allied health is a priority for research, policy and practice. Research limitations/implications This scoping review was undertaken to explore the response and adaption to change of allied health. It sought to identify the factors that may explain why certain disciplines within the allied health professional group responded to change differently. Scoping reviews do not set out to comprehensively source all relevant literature but rather to ascertain the nature and extent of the published literature in the field. Therefore, it is possible that a systematic review might uncover additional relevant papers. However, this scoping review provides a clear indication of the nature and extent of the literature in allied health. Practical implications Social implications This scoping review will assist change leaders to gain a better understanding of theoretical frameworks of individual, team and organisational change processes and the impacts these have individually and collectively on change processes. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this scoping review is the first of its kind to identify the minimal literature available on the way allied health professionals respond and adapt to change.

scholarly journals Physical activity promotion in the health care setting in Switzerland

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Physical Activity Promotion ◽  
Health Care Setting ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Activity Promotion

The role of regular physical activity for population health has been clearly documented. Improvements in population levels of physical activity require long-term implementation of a combination of measures, including the evidence based approaches described in the “seven best investments for physical activity” (www.globalpa.org.uk): whole-of-school programmes, transport, urban planning, integration of physical activity promotion into primary health care systems, public education, community-wide programmes, sport for all. The health care setting has a particular role in this context, particularly in its access to physically inactive individuals. Switzerland has seen a number of successful research projects in this field, but there has been no wide adaptation of these approaches in the medical community. In recent years, a group of institutions including the Swiss College of Primary Care Medicine, the Policlinique Médicale Universitaire in Lausanne, the Ligue Vaudoise contre les Maladies Cardiovasculaires and the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Zurich have therefore focussed on the development of a physical activity counselling approach based on international evidence as well as on established tools, but streamlined to the specific demands of primary health care providers in Switzerland. PAPRICA (Physical Activity Promotion in Primary Care, www.paprica.ch) has been the result of these developments, and nearly 300 health professionals, most of them primary care physicians, have been successfully trained so far. PAPRICA is implemented together with the Swiss Society for Sports Medicine and a number of regional partners. The development of a national programme structure is currently under preparation. This will allow Switzerland to explore and better use the potential of physicians and other health professionals in the promotion of physical activity and in the fight against non-communicable diseases.

scholarly journals Cost of Sickness Absenteeism during Seasonal Influenza Outbreaks of Medium Intensity among Health Care Workers

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gianino ◽  
Gianfranco Politano ◽  
Antonio Scarmozzino ◽  
Michela Stillo ◽  
Viola Amprino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Seasonal Influenza ◽  
Medical Doctor ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Sickness Absenteeism ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Care Workers

This study aims to estimate the economic costs of sickness absenteeism of health care workers in a large Italian teaching hospital during the seasonal flu periods. A retrospective observational study was performed. The excess data of hospital’s sickness absenteeism during three seasonal influenza periods (2010/2011; 2011/2012; 2012/2013) came from a previous study. The cost of sickness absenteeism was calculated for six job categories: medical doctor, technical executive (i.e., pharmacists); nurses and allied health professionals (i.e., radiographer), other executives (i.e., engineer), non-medical support staff, and administrative staff, and for four age ranges: <39, 40–49, 50–59, and >59 years. An average of 5401 employees working each year were under study. There were over 11,100 working days/year lost associated with an influenza period in Italy, the costs associated were approximately 1.7 million euros, and the average work loss was valued at € 327/person. The major shares of cost appeared related to nurses and allied health professionals (45% of total costs). The highest costs for working days lost were reported in the 40–49 age range, accounting for 37% of total costs. Due to the substantial economic burden of sickness absenteeism, there are clear benefits to be gained from the effective prevention of the influenza.

scholarly journals Communicating with migrants: children’s health literacy, digital technology, health promotion tools

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Reis ◽  
L Saboga-Nunes ◽  
A Spínola ◽  
I Santos ◽  
C Santiago
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Health Care Setting ◽  
Primary Health Care Setting ◽  
Primary Health

Abstract Background Being a migrant can enact road blocks in the process of integration, if language barriers persist in the communication between health professionals and migrants. Moreover, health literacy levels (HL) can differ, based on different cultural contexts or conceptions of health and illness. This research aims at exploring migrants (digital) HL and the mediating role of migrant’s children in primary health care setting. Health professionals’ resort to migrants’ children as interpreters and mediators has been highlighted with the younger generations’ digital literacy, as critical tools to overcome such barriers. Assessing and promoting migrant’s HL is a public health mandate in the promotion of individual and family health to establish a common ground base for communication. Methods A qualitative and ethnographic study based on narratives, participant observation, focus group and ethno biographic interviews with nurses, migrants, medical doctors and intercultural mediators, involved 52 participants in a primary health care setting in Santarém district, Portugal. Partnership with the Observatory for Migration, the High Commission for Migration (ACM) and with migrant associations, enabled the completion by migrants of an online questionnaire focusing on digital HL. Results Migrants’ children were identified as facilitators in the clinical setting at three levels: the communication, HL promotion and adherence to continuity of care. Conclusions Improve migrant’s HL and health decisions is feasible when considering several strategies to overcome cultural barriers. Migrants’ children are potential mediators in the process of communication between health professionals and adults. Awareness of their potential allows adjustments in the primary health care sector. The need to further investigate migrants’ HL and digital HL (e.g. telephone translation services, Internet-based tools for scheduling health appointments) are some tasks that need further research.

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.

COURTS LET UTILIZATION REVIEW FIRMS OFF THE HOOK—AND LEAVE DOCTORS ON

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. A80-A80
Author(s):  
J. F. L.
Keyword(s):  
Patient Care ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Patient Management ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Direct Patient Care ◽  
Utilization Review ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Malpractice Suit ◽  
The Right ◽  
Better Than

One of the most striking—and disturbing—changes under way in medicine is the rapid erosion of the physician's authority for managing the patient. More and more allied health professionals and organizations such as HMOs and PPOs clamor for the right to direct patient care. Yet when it comes to assuming some of the risk for malpractice suits, these groups want the burden to remain entirely on the doctor. Another claimant to knowing better than doctors what patients need: the utilization review firm. UR companies have made doctors' lives miserable by denying hospitalization, demanding earlier discharge, and generally questioning every aspect of patient management. When a malpractice suit arises, though, the UR firms all too often deny any responsibility. How? They say they're just interpreting the benefits a plan offers. This and other forms of legal hairsplitting leave the doctor holding the malpractice bag.

scholarly journals Similarities and Differences Between Asthma Health Care Professional and Patient Views Regarding Medication Adherence

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 221-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Peláez ◽  
Simon L Bacon ◽  
Mark W Aulls ◽  
Guillaume Lacoste ◽  
Kim L Lavoie
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Medication Adherence ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Collective Case Study ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Asthma Patients

BACKGROUND: The recent literature has reported disparate views between patients and health care professionals regarding the roles of various factors affecting medication adherence.OBJECTIVE: To examine the perspectives of asthma patients, physicians and allied health professionals regarding adherence to asthma medication.METHODOLOGY: A qualitative, multiple, collective case study design with six focus-group interviews including 38 participants (13 asthma patients, 13 pulmonologist physicians and 12 allied health professionals involved in treating asthma patients) was conducted.RESULTS: Patients, physicians and allied health professionals understood adherence to be an active process. In addition, all participants believed they had a role in treatment adherence, and agreed that the cost of medication was high and that access to the health care system was restricted. Major disagreements regarding patient-related barriers to medication adherence were identified among the groups. For example, all groups referred to side effects; however, while patients expressed their legitimate concerns, health care professionals believed that patients’ opinions of medication side effects were based on inadequate perceptions.CONCLUSION: Differences regarding medication adherence and barriers to adherence among the groups examined in the present study will provide insight into how disagreements may be translated to overcome barriers to optimal asthma adherence. Furthermore, when designing an intervention to enhance medication adherence, it is important to acknowledge that perceptual gaps exist and must be addressed.

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