The support workforce within the allied health division of labour

2021 ◽  
pp. 131-150
Author(s):  
Susan Nancarrow ◽  
Alan Borthwick
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health Professions

This chapter draws on the examples of occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) and podiatry assistants to examine the development and growth of the support workforce in allied health, and the considerations for the allied health professions. Allied health professionals have successfully devolved several aspects of their work to a growing support workforce, such as allied health assistants. These roles are becoming increasingly standardised in terms of training, titles, recognition and regulation. These occupations are often seen as transitional roles rather than aspiring professions in their own right, and may occupy an interdisciplinary space; however, there is evidence of growth and extended scope within these disciplines, such as the expansion of OTA roles into assistant practitioners.

The contribution to palliative care of allied health professions

2019 ◽  
pp. 673-714
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Palliative Care Team ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Music Therapists ◽  
Allied Health Professions ◽  
Parent Discipline

This chapter outlines the key work of allied health professionals within the palliative care team. Palliative care has been very successful at taking ideas, values, and techniques from other disciplines in healthcare. Such borrowing of ideas has nearly always included considerable adaptation from the parent discipline. However, the notion of cross-boundary, interdisciplinary working is now highly developed in palliative care. Some disciplines such as medicine and nursing have become core parts of the specialist team, whereas others have been accessed on an as-required basis. Increasingly, individual allied health professions have seen the need to evolve the palliative care specialism within the generic discipline. Allied health professionals include occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nutritional experts, speech and language therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers, chaplains, pharmacists, and art and music therapists.

Multidisciplinary treatment

2013 ◽  
pp. 582-587
Author(s):  
Sarah Ryan ◽  
Jo Adams ◽  
Anne O’Brien ◽  
Anita Williams
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Multidisciplinary Treatment ◽  
Social Function ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Musculoskeletal Condition ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Shared Goal

Multidisciplinary treatment is required to optimize the physical, psychological, and social function of people living with a long-term musculoskeletal condition. Multidisciplinary treatment is usually provided by a team which includes doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. Each member of the team provides their own unique contribution with the shared goal of suppressing the activity and impact of the condition while educating and supporting people to manage their own symptoms effectively. This chapter focuses on treatment from the perspective of four disciplines: nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and podiatry.

Multidisciplinary treatment

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Ryan ◽  
Jo Adams ◽  
Anne O’Brien ◽  
Anita Williams
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Multidisciplinary Treatment ◽  
Social Function ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Musculoskeletal Condition ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Shared Goal

Multidisciplinary treatment is required to optimize the physical, psychological, and social function of people living with a long-term musculoskeletal condition. Multidisciplinary treatment is usually provided by a team which includes doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. Each member of the team provides their own unique contribution with the shared goal of suppressing the activity and impact of the condition while educating and supporting people to manage their own symptoms effectively. This chapter focuses on treatment from the perspective of four disciplines: nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and podiatry.

Health-Related Physical Fitness Knowledge of Student Allied Health Professions

2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Miller ◽  
David C. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Athletic Training ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health Professions ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Health Related

Each allied-health profession has their own particular expertise but also shares some commonalities. One such commonality should be knowledge of health-related physical fitness relating to the health and well-being of individuals. Although the benefits of health-related physical fitness has been well documented, few studies have examined the level of health-related physical fitness knowledge among allied-health professions. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to assess the health-related physical fitness knowledge of three allied-health professions using a 40 item multiple-choice test designed to assess knowledge in five domains of health-related physical fitness. Results indicated that student athletic trainers scored significantly higher on the post-test versus pre-test. On the post-test, athletic training and physical therapy groups scored significantly higher than the nursing group. The information from this study may be valuable in aiding educators in developing appropriate curriculums to better prepare students for their role as allied-health professionals.

scholarly journals Limitations in health professionals’ knowledge of end-of-life law: a cross-sectional survey

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2021-003061
Author(s):  
Ben P White ◽  
Lindy Willmott ◽  
Rachel Feeney ◽  
Penny Neller ◽  
Shin-Ning Then ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Knowledge Levels

BackgroundInsufficient knowledge about end-of-life law can impede the provision of safe and high-quality end-of-life care. Accurate legal knowledge across health professions is critical in palliative and end-of-life settings given the reliance on multidisciplinary care. Most research has focused on doctors, finding significant knowledge gaps. The limited evidence about other health professions also suggests legal knowledge deficits.ObjectiveTo determine and compare levels of knowledge about end-of-life law across a broad sample of Australian health professionals and medical students, and to identify predictors of legal knowledge.MethodsAn online pre-training survey was completed by participants enrolled in a national training programme on end-of-life law. The optional survey collected demographic data and measured baseline legal knowledge and attitudes towards end-of-life law.ResultsResponse rate was 67% (1653/2456). The final sample for analysis (n=1564, 95% of respondents), included doctors, medical students, nurses and a range of allied health professionals. Doctors and nurses had slightly higher levels of legal knowledge than did medical students and allied health professionals; all had critical knowledge gaps. Demographic and professional characteristics predicted knowledge levels, with experience of end-of-life law in practice, confidence applying law and recent continuing professional development being positively associated with legal knowledge.ConclusionsThis study provides new evidence about legal knowledge across a broad range of health professions. While knowledge levels varied somewhat across professions, knowledge gaps were observed in all professional groups. Education and training initiatives to enhance knowledge of end-of-life law should be tailored to meet the specific needs of each profession.

Multidisciplinary treatment

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Ryan ◽  
Jo Adams ◽  
Anne O’Brien ◽  
Anita Williams
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Multidisciplinary Treatment ◽  
Social Function ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Musculoskeletal Condition ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Shared Goal

Multidisciplinary treatment is required to optimize the physical, psychological, and social function of people living with a long-term musculoskeletal condition. Multidisciplinary treatment is usually provided by a team which includes doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. Each member of the team provides their own unique contribution with the shared goal of suppressing the activity and impact of the condition while educating and supporting people to manage their own symptoms effectively. This chapter focuses on treatment from the perspective of four disciplines: nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and podiatry.

The established allied health professions

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-106
Author(s):  
Susan Nancarrow ◽  
Alan Borthwick
Keyword(s):  
Allied Health ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Professional Boundaries ◽  
Allied Health Professions ◽  
Track Record ◽  
Mainstream Healthcare ◽  
The Right

This chapter explores in detail using the examples of optometry and radiography the early development of the well-established and more mature allied health professions who have had to negotiate their professional boundaries with the state and the medical profession. In many ways, it is these early disputes and negotiations that are responsible for shaping the modern health workforce and the allied health division of labour. Optometry and radiology constitute two clear examples of professions that may be regarded as established within contemporary mainstream healthcare. One has a long pre-modern history, with a degree of autonomy built on its claim to a unique knowledge base that is independent of medicine and a track record of retail business success; the other emerged firmly rooted in hospital practice comprising technicians competing with medicine within a medical sphere of practice. Optometry, historically male-dominated, was established prior to the advent of full medical hegemony and power; radiography, mainly female, arose within it. Yet, both continue to operate within limits to a scope of practice defined by the presence of two major medical specialities with which they closely interface: ophthalmology and radiology. Both groups have a clearly limited and subordinate role in the provision of healthcare within their own spheres, and both had to concede the right to make diagnoses within their fields of expertise. It is the latter that has so clearly influenced the limitations set on the prescribing of medicines for both groups, even in the current policy climate of workforce redesign and role flexibility.

Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 191-202
Author(s):  
Susan Nancarrow ◽  
Alan Borthwick
Keyword(s):  
Allied Health ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Allied Health Professions ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk

This concluding chapter considers the policy and practice implications of the preceding chapters. Despite the prolific use of the term 'allied health', the analysis brings the reader no closer to a unifying definition of the confederation of allied health professions. It is clear that allied health professionals are distinct from medicine and nursing; however, those professional boundaries are beginning to blur as allied health professions take on traditional medical roles, such as prescribing and point-of-care testing. Despite their largely successful professionalisation strategies, the allied health professions still face many challenges in influencing service delivery in a way that optimises the use of their services. Despite many common origins to both the Australian and UK health systems, the divergence of the two systems after the Second World War created some significantly different contexts for the evolution of allied health. A defining feature of the UK NHS is the provision of almost all personal care through the health and social care portfolios. These portfolios help to create a singular definition of 'health' and 'social care', and, with few exceptions, most allied health is provided within the 'health' portfolio. The Australian system, in contrast, is highly pluralistic and there is no legislatively endorsed central recognition of or endorsement for the collective allied health professions. It remains likely that the allied health professions must continue to assume that to be a professional means to act professionally, to observe and maintain standards of behaviour that fit the image of professionalism, to construe their actions as altruistic, and to promote a service ethic and orientation.

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