Abstract
The allied health professions form approximately 18% of the health workforce in Australia and are well placed to contribute to future multidisciplinary models of health care. There are many reports describing the health workforce in Australia for the medical and nursing professions but there is very little information available about the nature of the allied health workforce. Recent studies have highlighted the need for more current and detailed information about the rural allied health workforce to inform future workforce planning. National health policy reform requires that new healthcare models take into account future workforce requirements, the distribution and work contexts of existing practitioners, training needs, workforce roles and scope of practice. The absence of accurate data profiling the existing rural allied health workforce makes this impossible. The Rural Allied Health Workforce Study (RAHWS) aims to use a cross-sectional survey instrument with high validity to provide a large scale but detailed profile of the allied health workforce in regional, rural and remote Australia. The RAHWS survey instrument used in this study is the result of a comprehensive consultation with clinicians, academics and managers. The RAHWS survey instrument has been designed to provide uniform data across a wide range of healthcare settings. Good concurrent and face validity have been demonstrated and its design allows for data analysis using a wide range of variables. Cross-correlation of responses can answer a number of research questions in relation to rural recruitment and retention, professional education and service delivery models. This valid and feasible instrument will be used to explore the rural allied health workforce by implementing the RAHWS survey in rural regions on a state-by-state basis in Australia during 2009 and 2010.
Highlights
Allied health professionals comprise a substantial proportion of the health workforce and make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of the Australian population
The AIHW 2006 report provides a small amount of detail about the national allied health workforce based on 2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics census data[1]
An analysis of 2001 ABS census data undertaken by Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) in 2004 demonstrated that people living in outer regional centres have access to only about half as many allied health professionals as people living in metropolitan centres
Summary
Allied health professionals comprise a substantial proportion of the health workforce and make a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of the Australian population. Peer reviewed publications exploring Australian rural allied health workforce issues are sparse[5,6]. Workforce data are robust for nurses and medical practitioners, including many peer-reviewed publications and major governmental reports[9,10]. The AIHW 2006 report provides a small amount of detail about the national allied health workforce based on 2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics census data[1]. More recent reports have concluded that there is a lack of data about the Australian allied health workforce, for rural and remote areas[11]. The data produced may inform future public health and primary care policy development, as well as generating a deeper understanding about the recruitment and retention of rural allied health professionals. The work is the product of a collaboration of three Australian Government funded University Departments of Rural Health (UDRHs)[12]
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