Abstract
The future allied health workforce needs to be flexible to meet the needs of an ageing population with increasing chronic health care needs and geographically dispersed populations in many developed countries. Existing research shows the maldistribution of the Australian health workforce, with allied health professionals being poorly represented in rural and remote areas. This mixed-methods longitudinal workforce outcomes study is ongoing to determine the rural and remote allied health workforce outcomes from an immersive student placement program based in rural New South Wales, Australia. Outcomes, to date, show 52% of graduates working in a rural or remote area (RA2–RA5) after one year and 37.5% at three years post-graduation. Students from a rural or remote background were 2.35 times (95% CI 1.056–5.229) more likely to be located in a rural or remote workplace after one year than graduates from a metropolitan background. Graduates provided reasons for their plans to move from or stay in their current position. Four key themes emerged: Seeking new and different opportunities; Better income and job security; Personal change and lifestyle improvement and Level of job satisfaction. An existing program to develop the allied health workforce in rural Australia is demonstrating positive short-term outcomes. Ongoing monitoring of workforce outcomes is required to determine the long-term outcomes for rural and remote communities.
Highlights
Access to healthcare in non-metropolitan areas is an issue at a global level in both developed and developing countries [1]
The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the short-term workforce outcomes from this immersive student placement program located in rural New South Wales (NSW), Australia
This study is the first of its kind to report on the workforce outcomes in rural and remote Australia for allied health graduates who have been involved in short- and long-term rural immersive placement programs
Summary
Access to healthcare in non-metropolitan areas is an issue at a global level in both developed and developing countries [1]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for investment at a national and international level to improve coverage of health services within and between countries and closer collaboration between researchers and policy makers [2]. There is wide recognition of the challenges that face the health care system and into the future and that it will not be possible, nor appropriate to deliver health care services in the same way as they have been delivered in the past. New models of practice must be developed to meet the increasing demand for services, in rural and remote locations where the.
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