scholarly journals What works, why and how? A scoping review and logic model of rural clinical placements for allied health students

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Moran ◽  
Susan Nancarrow ◽  
Catherine Cosgrave ◽  
Anna Griffith ◽  
Rhiannon Memery
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Rural Practice ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
Clinical Placements ◽  
Allied Health Students

Abstract Background Allied health services are core to the improvement in health outcomes for remote and rural residents. Substantial infrastructure has been put into place to facilitate rural work-ready allied health practitioners, yet it is difficult to understand or measure how successful this is and how it is facilitated. Methods A scoping review and thematic synthesis of the literature using program logic was undertaken to identify and describe the contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of successful models of rural clinical placements for allied health students. This involved all empirical literature examining models of regional, rural and remote clinical placements for allied health students between 1995 and 2019. Results A total of 292 articles were identified; however, after removal of duplicates and article screening, 18 were included in the final synthesis. Australian papers dominated the evidence base (n = 11). Drivers for rural allied health clinical placements include: attracting allied health students to the rural workforce; increasing the number of allied health clinical placements available; exposing students to and providing skills in rural and interprofessional practice; and improving access to allied health services in rural areas. Depending on the placement model, a number of key mechanisms were identified that facilitated realisation of these drivers and therefore the success of the model. These included: support for students; engagement, consultation and partnership with key stakeholders and organisations; and regional coordination, infrastructure and support. Placement success was measured in terms of student, rural, community and/or program outcomes. Although the strength and quality of the evidence was found to be low, there is a trend for placements to be more successful when the driver for the placement is specifically reflected in the structure of the placement model and outcomes measured. This was seen most effectively in placement models that were driven by the need to meet rural community needs and upskill students in interprofessional rural practice. Conclusion This study identifies the factors that can be manipulated to ensure more successful models of allied health rural clinical placements and provides an evidence based framework for improved planning and evaluation.

scholarly journals Pre-entry student clinical placement demand: can it be met?

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liza-Jane McBride ◽  
Cate Fitzgerald ◽  
Laura Morrison ◽  
Julie Hulcombe
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Clinical Education ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Clinical Placement ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Workload Management ◽  
Clinical Placements ◽  
Quality Review

Objectives The Clinical Education Workload Management Initiative (the Initiative) is a unique, multiprofessional, jurisdiction-wide approach and reform process enshrined within an industrial agreement. The Initiative enabled significant investment in allied health clinical education across Queensland public health services to address the workload associated with providing pre-entry clinical placements. This paper describes the outcomes of a quality review activity to measure the impact of the Initiative on placement capacity and workload management for five allied health professions. Data related to several key factors impacting on placement supply and demand in addition to qualitative perspectives from workforce surveys are reported. Methods Data from a range of quality review actions including collated placement activity data, and workforce and student cohort statistics were appraised. Stakeholder perspectives reported in surveys were analysed for emerging themes. Results Placement offers showed an upward trend in the context of increased university program and student numbers and in contrast with a downward trend in full-time equivalent (FTE) staff numbers. Initiative-funded positions were identified as a major factor in individual practitioners taking more students, and staff and managers valued the Initiative-funded positions’ support before and during placements, in the coordination of placements, and in building partnerships with universities. Conclusions The Initiative enabled a co-ordinated response to meeting placement demand and enhanced collaborations between the health and education sectors. Sustaining pre-entry student placement provision remains a challenge for the future. What is known about the topic? The literature clearly identifies factors impacting on increasing demand for clinical placements and a range of strategies to increase clinical placement capacity. However, reported initiatives have mostly been ad hoc or reactive responses, often isolated within services or professions. What does this paper add? This paper describes implementation of a clinical placement capacity building initiative within public sector health services developed from a unique opportunity to provide funding through an industrial agreement. The Initiative aimed to address the workload associated with clinical education of pre-entry students and new graduates. What are the implications for practitioners? This paper demonstrates that systematic commitment to, and funding of, clinical education across a jurisdiction’s public health services is able to increase placement capacity, even when staffing numbers are in decline.

Loss of income and levels of scholarship support for students on rural clinical placements: A survey of medical, nursing and allied health students

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Schofield ◽  
Sheila Keane ◽  
Susan Fletcher ◽  
Rupendra Shrestha ◽  
Richard Percival
Keyword(s):  
Allied Health ◽  
Clinical Placements ◽  
Allied Health Students

scholarly journals Recruiting and Retaining Allied Health Professionals in Rural Australia: Why is it so Difficult?

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Struber
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Rural Practice ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Attrition Rates ◽  
Recruitment And Retention ◽  
Health Related

Rural communities in Australia have particular health needs, and the recruitment and retention of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) is a significant concern. Despite the increasing number of AHPs being trained, vacancy and attrition rates in rural areas continue to rise. Professional and social isolation combined with rapidly changing health service delivery structures are identified as major deterrents to long-term rural practice. While strategies are now being implemented, endeavours to resolve the issues lag well behind initiates offered to Medical and Nursing staff. Given the wealth of political, professional and health related issues underlying the recruitment and retention of AHPs to rural areas, total resolution of this issue may not be possible. A unified approach by AHPs combined with concerted effort and collaboration on the part of all the stakeholders may, however, allow management at a level required to sustain a viable rural AHP workforce.

The process and challenges of obtaining and sustaining clinical placements for nursing and allied health students

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (19-20) ◽  
pp. 3099-3110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Taylor ◽  
Liz Angel ◽  
Lucy Nyanga ◽  
Cathy Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Allied Health ◽  
Clinical Placements ◽  
Allied Health Students

Preferences for rural specialist health care in the treatment of Parkinson's disease: exploring the role of community-based nursing specialists

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Veronica Coady ◽  
Narelle Warren ◽  
Nancy Bilkhu ◽  
Darshini Ayton
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Specialist Care ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Specific Care

People living with Parkinson’s disease (PWPD) in rural areas have limited access to local condition-specific care. This paper examines the healthcare preferences of PWPD living in rural areas and how a community-driven initiative to employ a movement disorder nurse (MDN) functioned to address barriers to health services access. A qualitative design facilitated an understanding of how interactions with the health system shaped PWPD and their carer’s experiences of living in a regional community. A total of 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted 6–9 months apart; 19 interviews with PWPD and 23 dyadic interviews. The findings support the contention that specialist care can be effectively delivered through allied health professionals in some settings. In particular, having access to a specialist MDN can cushion the effects of living with Parkinson’s disease in regional and rural areas where continuity of care and access to timely support is often difficult for people to find. The quality of social support provided by the MDN may increase people’s ability to cope in the face of an unpredictable disease course. This is consistent with prior research, which identified that a specialist nurse or allied health services for people living with chronic conditions is enhances quality of life.

Implementation factors are neglected in research investigating telehealth delivery of allied health services to rural children: A scoping review

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 590-606
Author(s):  
Jessica Campbell ◽  
Deborah Theodoros ◽  
Nicole Hartley ◽  
Trevor Russell ◽  
Nicole Gillespie
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Rural Children ◽  
Critical Skills ◽  
Allied Healthcare ◽  
Implementation Factors

Introduction Rural children are likely to benefit from the telehealth delivery of multidisciplinary allied healthcare. This study aimed to (a) identify the scope of literature describing the telehealth delivery of allied health services to children living in rural areas and (b) understand the extent to which implementation – that is, specific activities designed to put telehealth into practice – has been investigated in such literature. Methods Systematic scoping review methodology was used to locate studies in which telehealth delivered allied health services to children aged 0–12 who lived rurally (January 1998–January 2018). Two reviewers screened the studies, extracted data and appraised quality with Critical Skills Appraisal Programme checklists. Databases searched were PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC and Cochrane Library. Results Data were extracted from 23 papers (two randomised controlled trials, one pseudorandomised controlled trial, one non-randomised experimental trial, two interrupted time series without parallel control groups, 10 case series and seven studies of diagnostic yield). Most were level III ( n = 4) or IV ( n = 17) when classified according to National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines. One study met all Critical Skills Appraisal Programme quality criteria. Allied healthcare interventions were aimed at improving functioning in communication ( n = 10), behaviour and socio-emotional domains ( n = 8) and identifying hearing concerns ( n = 5). Many studies ( n = 12) identified implementation facilitators, largely training and equipment. Only one study referred to an explicit framework for telehealth implementation (user-centred design). Discussion Future research should target occupational therapy, physiotherapy, dietetics and social work, and determine the implementation factors and models likely to create successful telehealth services for this population.

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