Workforce Development Activities Research Articles

Come Together, But How? Zooming Into Economic Development Collaboration Between State and Local Governments, and Nongovernmental Organizations

Economic development at the local level presents an intrinsic tension produced by competitive and cooperative dynamics. While empirical studies have identified drivers for collaboration at the local level, less is known about the scope of activities promoted by state-level agencies and the institutional mechanisms that state and local actors create to cooperate. This study exploits a unique data set created by the State of Iowa reporting the economic development agreements from 2007 to 2018. The findings illustrate how workforce development activities are the most prevalent activity while fiscal incentives are the least recurrent practice. In terms of institutional mechanisms, service contracts are used most frequently. Additionally, a state agency and nonprofit organization dyad is the most common collaboration, which highlights the role of state governments in shaping local economic development strategies. This exploration of mechanisms, activities, motivations, and duration contributes by improving theories of formal collaboration and intersectoral governance.

(Invited) DOE EERE Activities in High Temperature Electrolysis and Reversible Fuel Cells

Hydrogen and fuel cells are emerging, versatile examples within a portfolio of advanced and sustainable energy options. Dr. William Gibbons will provide an overview of hydrogen and fuel cell research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) activities led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The presentation will discuss how EERE’s RDD&D efforts are advancing U.S. commitment to tackling the climate crisis through the DOE Hydrogen Program’s H2@scale vision for clean hydrogen across the economy, and the Hydrogen Energy Earthshot seeking to cut the cost of clean hydrogen to $1 per 1 kilogram in one decade. The presentation will also cover examples of H2@Scale projects demonstrating hydrogen’s emission reduction and economic growth potential in hard to decarbonize sectors such as steel manufacturing and heavy-duty applications, as well workforce development and international collaboration activities.

Allied health workforce development for participant-led services: structures for student placements in the National Disability Insurance Scheme

BackgroundHealth, disability, and community services are increasingly transitioning from government-led to participant-led funding models, which intend to increase choice and control for service users. Allied health practitioners, who provide many frontline services within the resultant marketised environment, must adjust their knowledge and skills to meet participants’ expectations. However, future workforce strategies to address allied health student capabilities to provide these services have received limited attention. This study explored shifting understandings and practices related to allied health student placements during the implementation of a participant-led funding model within the Australian disability sector: the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).MethodsData for this study came from a two-year disability workforce project exploring allied health placements. Service providers, participants, university representatives, disability advocates and students participated in 48 interviews and two focus groups to provide perspectives on allied health workforce and student placements. The findings result from secondary deductive analysis undertaken following project completion that used Gidden’s (1984) Structuration Theory as a conceptual lens to identify structures and actions related to the marketised service environment that influenced how allied health student placements were undertaken.ResultsThe findings were organised using two Structuration concepts: knowledgeability, and duality of structure. These described how service providers, supervisors and students understood, legitimised and prioritised placement activities, and how these structures influenced and were influenced by the actions of stakeholders across NDIS settings, contexts and time. Initially, existing placement structures were not compatible with new structures emerging in the disrupted NDIS service environment. However, over time, and responding to new knowledgeability of service providers, supervisors and students, placement structures were identified, monitored and adjusted to reflect perspectives of all stakeholders.ConclusionsParticipant-led funding invoked structural changes in disability service provision that transformed how stakeholders understood placements and the role of students in service provision. Whilst there were new opportunities for placement, tensions were identified in how learning activities can be enacted within a marketised system in which resources are aligned to participant needs, and structures for workforce development and learning activities are less visible. Further conceptualisation of how student learning and workforce development activities can fit with contemporary funding models is necessary to meet participant, service provider and student needs.

A Scoping Review on Determining Australian Nurse Engagement in Eye Care Settings.

As the Australian population grows and ages, the demand for eye care services, and nurses to provide the services, is expected to increase. This will impact nurses, who are Australia's largest health-care provider group. Understanding and mapping the current role and use of nurses in eye care is an essential first step for future health workforce planning and development. To map their engagement, we undertook a scoping review to gain an understanding of the current Australian nurse eye care workforce landscape, to help guide and support future workforce development activities. Secondly, we evaluated if publications in this field incorporated or mentioned the Australian Ophthalmic Nursing Association's National Standards (Practice standards) in their publication. This review also offers other nations and eye care providers the opportunity to evaluate their own health workforce plan and nurse utility. We conducted a review of academic and grey literature, via various search engines, and an inclusion and exclusion criteria. We uncovered 11 publications. Of those, five were academic papers examining extended and advanced nursing practice, one was a letter to the editor, two were industry feature reviews, two were industry reports and the final was the Practice Standards. Key themes throughout indicated the benefit of nurse training and nurse involvement in eye care. Overall, there was insufficient information or data to describe nurse deployment, practice and utility. Finally, the Practice Standards were not referenced in any publication. There is insufficient published information to calculate the level and involvement of nurses, or describe their existing role, advancement or future deployment in eye care in Australia. Without clear information, Australia is unable to develop effective health workforce strategies to attract, train, retain, and appropriately deploy nurses to meet future eye care needs.

National Hemophilia Foundation Champions a National Research Blueprint Defining a Community-Coordinated Research Ecosystem to Accelerate Progress in Inherited Bleeding Disorders

Background: With the recent advent of novel technologies, therapeutics and genetic medicine, we have a powerful opportunity to accelerate inherited bleeding disorders (IBD) research momentum in areas that urgently need attention, specifically in rare disorders, women with bleeding disorders and underserved populations. A comprehensive, cross-community initiative spearheaded by the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) aims to deliver a National Research Blueprint (NRB) to foster accessible and high-impact research for people with IBDs. Working together with multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder groups as part of the State of the Science (SOS) Research Summit in September 2021, the effort has already made considerable progress in identifying areas that most urgently require attention today and opportunities to make the greatest impact for the future. (Valentino, Haemophilia, 2022.) (See Table 1) Now, a series of NRB working groups (WGs) has been established and charged with defining the necessary components to launch, sustain and expand a community-focused research network to accomplish these goals. (See Figure 1) Methods: The NRB effort is defining critical components of a collaborative IBD national research network, considering the stakeholders to be involved, the resources necessary, the processes and the systems that will guide productive research. Given the rare nature of most IBDs, this network must be not only sustainable, flexible and adaptable, but also uniquely accessible and partnership-oriented to effectively engage communities locally, building upon the models in place today through local and regional Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) networks, and coordinated through centralized research mechanisms. Based on the insights generated during the SOS, NHF has now convened seven multi-disciplinary NRB WGs, each charged with addressing critical questions in the formation of this network:R&D: What basic, translational, clinical, implementation and outcomes research should the national IBD research network either initiate or prioritize for development?Workforce: What are the strengths and needs for skill development to be successful and how can this network support career development?Infrastructure: What infrastructure elements must be prioritized to support research and workforce development activities? How will the infrastructure be sustainable?HEDI: What health equity, diversity, and inclusion (HEDI) principles must be embedded in the network and how should they be integrated and employed over time?SME: How can an effective research culture be fostered among patients, caregivers and family members and how can we ensure sustainable subject matter expert (SME) input at every level to inform research strategy?Policy: What are the essential elements of or necessary changes in research policy to facilitate research priorities, infrastructure and workforce development?Community Engagement: How can we help establish an active research culture across the community? What are the best communication, education and acculturation strategies to facilitate enthusiastic participation? Results: A wide range of researchers, clinicians, patients and caregivers, non-profit and government leaders, and industry are contributing to the NRB network implementation plan. By 2023, NHF aims to deliver the blueprint to establish a community-integrated research enterprise that will not only help to coordinate research efforts in the areas that matter most for patients, but also foster a greater culture of research and inclusivity across the community to continually fuel progress. Conclusion: The ultimate ambition of the NRB is to prioritize and accelerate research in partnership with a diverse and fully engaged patient community. The NRB efforts will deliver a collaborative research infrastructure and workforce capable of conducting this research expertly, equitably, efficiently and expeditiously, supported by the right research policies and the right processes to both communicate research results and translate them into a progressively evidence-based and universally accessible standard of care. This NRB effort, driven by,for, and with the IBD community, has potential to redefine the IBD landscape for the benefit of everyone. Figure 1View largeDownload PPTFigure 1View largeDownload PPT Close modal

America’s Cutting Edge CNC machining and metrology training

This paper describes the workforce development activities supported by America’s Cutting Edge (ACE), a national initiative for machine tool technology development and advancement. ACE is supported by the Department of Defense Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program from the Office of Industrial Policy. Both the online and in-person components of the computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining and metrology training programs are summarized and participation information is provided.

Use of Job Classifications, Career Ladders, and the Applied Epidemiology Competencies to Support Recruitment, Retention, and Practice of State Health Department Epidemiologists.

State health departments report that recruitment and retention of qualified epidemiologists is a significant challenge to ensuring epidemiology capacity to support essential public health services. To collect information on the use of epidemiology job classifications, career ladders, and professional competencies in state health departments to inform workforce development activities that improve epidemiology capacity. Electronic survey of the designated state epidemiologist. Fifty state health departments and the District of Columbia. State epidemiologists working in state health departments. Use and perceived benefit of epidemiology job classifications, career ladders, and professional competencies. All 50 states and the District of Columbia responded to the survey. Most state health departments reported having epidemiology-specific job classifications (n = 44, 90%) and career ladders (n = 36, 71%) in place. State epidemiologists strongly agreed or agreed that having an epidemiology-specific classification positively contributed to recruitment (n = 37, 84%) and retention (n = 29, 66%) of epidemiologists in their agency. State epidemiologists strongly agreed or agreed that having an epidemiology-specific career ladder positively contributed to recruitment (n = 24, 69%) and retention (n = 23, 66%) of epidemiologists in their agency. Only 10 (29%) state epidemiologists reported using the applied epidemiology competencies to develop or revise their jurisdiction's epidemiology career ladder. State health departments should implement well-maintained epidemiology-specific job classifications and career ladders that are based on current epidemiology competencies. Career ladders should be supported with opportunities for competency-based training to support career progression.

IMakerSpace Best Practices for Shaping the 21st Century Workforce

Innovations in engineering education are undergoing a noticeable transformation. Higher education institutions are practicing distance education, remote laboratories, studio pedagogies and several other approaches in order to increase their students’ retention, success, and preparedness for the job market. In engineering education, maker spaces have become popular in the last ten years in universities as well as community colleges, high schools and community innovation hubs. A large number of engineering colleges have allocated significant spaces, and at some universities entire buildings, as maker spaces to be used for curricular and extracurricular activities. Success stories of these types of spaces are well documented. This paper describes the core activities and programs held at Tennessee Tech University’s maker space called ‘iMakerSpace.’ Accomplishments include several innovative workforce development activities. The impact and effectiveness of the iMakerSpace, presented through workforce innovations and survey statistics, is a unique contribution to this paper. In addition, the modification of operations under COVID-19 pandemic restrictions has resulted in changes that may be carried out post-pandemic.

Perspectives on Workforce Development Needs for Community Health Workers (CHWs): Results from a Statewide Survey of CHW Employers.

We conducted a survey of community health worker (CHW) employers in Texas to understand the employment context and workforce development needs of Texas CHWs. An electronic, mixed-methods survey was emailed to 841 CHW employers across Texas in Spring 2020. The survey consisted of 51 questions. The response rate was 22% (n = 182). Responses were analyzed using SPSS, Microsoft Excel, and N.Vivo. We found that most CHW employers directly employ their CHWs, and CHWs are typically part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team. Most respondents required their CHWs be certified by the state’s health department and have at least a high school diploma or GED. The most common services that CHWs provide are health education/promotion and information referral. The main health issues that CHWs address are diabetes, hypertension, and mental/behavioral health. Current CHW workforce development needs include continued training on topics including chronic disease self-management and health promotion. CHW employers differ in their capacity to implement workforce development activities. There is significant variety in the employment context and workforce development needs of CHWs across Texas. Results reinforce previous findings on the need for specialized, continuing training for CHWs and the development of pathways, resources, and opportunities that could advance the CHW profession even more. These results can inform those interested in employing CHWs in their CHW program development. Findings from this study can be used to guide development of tailored curriculum for continuing education units, specialized certifications, or other professional development resources for CHWs.

Patterns of Cross-Sector Collaboration in Local Health Departments: A Cluster Analysis.

Local health departments (LHDs) are positioned to act as the community health strategist for their catchment area, which requires cross-sector collaboration. However, little research exists to understand how much and what types of cross-sector collaboration occur and its impact on LHD practice. Data from 490 LHDs who participated in the 2016 National Profile of Local Health Departments survey were analyzed to identify patterns of cross-sector collaboration among LHDs. In the survey, LHDs reported the presence of collaborative activities for each of 22 categories of organizations. Factor analysis was used to identify patterns in the types of organizations with which LHDs collaborate. Then, cluster analysis was conducted to identify patterns in the types of cross-sector collaboration, and cross-sectional analyses examined which LHD characteristics were associated with cluster assignment. LHDs collaborated most with traditional health care-oriented organizations, but less often with organizations focused on upstream determinants of health such as housing. Three distinct clusters represented collaboration patterns in LHDs: coordinators, networkers, and low-collaborators. LHDs who were low-collaborators were more likely to serve smaller populations, be unaccredited, have a smaller workforce, have a White top executive, and have a top executive without a graduate degree. These findings imply that public health practitioners should prioritize building bridges to a variety of organizations and engage in collaboration beyond information sharing. Furthermore, LHDs should prioritize accreditation and workforce development activities for supporting cross-sector collaboration. With these investments, the public health system can better address the social and structural determinants of health and promote health equity.

Trauma recovery core capabilities for the children’s workforce in the United Kingdom: A Q-methodology study

There are competency frameworks and trainings relating to the development of a trauma informed workforce. These have generally been developed outside of the UK and often involve lists of 20 to 40 competencies, which can become overwhelming and often impractical to implement. The aim of this research was to develop UK expert consensus on the key elements of what would make a worker/practitioner who engages with traumatized children trauma informed and recovery focused. The use of the Delphi and Q-methodology allowed consensus across UK experts and practitioners to be developed. The Q-sort clusters responses across participants to develop a small set of overarching themes. This process led to three key components being identified (1) Recovery through new ways of coping with stress; (2) The role of the family system in the recovery process and (3) Understanding the longer-term development impact of trauma on the young person and the potential impact on the practitioner. These three components were linked to the types of roles the experts held within the trauma recovery field. It is hoped that these overarching components will guide workforce development activities including training, curriculum development, and professional standards for those who engage with traumatized young people.

Developing the Workforce of the Future: How the National Nanotechnology Initiative Has Supported Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education in the United States

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) has supported outreach, education, and workforce development activities as part of its primary goals for the past 20 years. Efforts by NNI-participating agencies and the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) have helped to create a vibrant, interdisciplinary nanotechnology research community and scores of educational resources. Highlights of some of the U.S. federal government programs that have been used to expand the research capacity, create and disseminate educational resources, and advance training and workforce development programs in the areas of nanoscale science and engineering are provided. Although some agencies have established nanotechnology-focused programs, in many cases, nanotechnology topics competed successfully in broader calls. As the scientific boundaries of nanotechnology expand and new discoveries are made, education, outreach, and workforce development activities need to reflect these advancements to prepare the workforce of the future.

Barriers and Facilitators of Responding to Problem Gambling: Perspectives from Australian Mental Health Services.

Despite high rates of comorbidity between problem gambling and mental health disorders, few studies have examined barriers or facilitators to the implementation of screening for problem gambling in mental health services. This exploratory qualitative study identified key themes associated with screening in mental health services. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 30 clinicians and managers from 11 mental health services in Victoria, Australia. Major themes and subthemes were identified using qualitative content analysis. Six themes emerged including competing priorities, importance of routine screening, access to appropriate screening tools, resources, patient responsiveness and workforce development. Barriers to screening included a focus on immediate risk as well as gambling being often considered as a longer-term concern. Clinicians perceived problem gambling as a relatively rare condition, but did acknowledge the need for brief screening. Facilitators to screening were changes to system processes, such as identification of an appropriate brief screening instrument, mandating its use as part of routine screening, as well as funded workforce development activities in the identification and management of problem gambling.

Using a nurse leads team to spearhead workforce change

Most clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England have a primary care nurse lead to focus on education, supervision and support. Lambeth CCG has tried a new approach involving a team of nurse leads Primary care is at the heart of health care but there are not enough well-trained nurses and health care assistants (HCas) to cope. This study describes how the first ever practice nursing workforce team in England was set up to tackle this in Lambeth, London. Rather than having one nursing lead, the CCG employs a group of nurses who also work day-to-day in clinical practice. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect information about the nurse leads group. Data were collected retrospectively to compare before and after this model was introduced. Information was collected using a survey with 43 practice nurses and 21 HCAs, group discussions and reflections from the nurse lead group and comparison of statistics before and after the nurse lead group was in post. Over a 2-year period, the nurse lead group has increased the number of HCAs in Lambeth, increased the training and supervision available to HCAs and practice nurses, and increased satisfaction with training and support. Before the team was in place there was no register of nurse mentors. Now there is a register with 38 trained mentors. Previously, only one practice took student nurse placements, now four do. Ten clinical supervision groups run at different times during the week, with 80 nurses taking part (80%). The number of HCAs has increased by 25%. All HCAs have attended an upskilling course and seven out of ten attend regular supervision. Other areas could also have a team of nurse leads rather than relying on one person. Making sure that nurse leads are part of the clinical workforce helps to promote empathy and credibility. Having a team helps to share the workload and means that nurses can divide their time between clinical practice and workforce development activities.

Data, Workforce, Action!

In Brief This commentary describes data for action, including trend data about workforce demographics, needs, gaps, impact, and programs and tools, which are essential for planning, implementing, and evaluating workforce development programs and activities across all levels and jurisdictions.

Implementing administrative evidence based practices: lessons from the field in six local health departments across the United States.

BackgroundAdministrative evidence based practices (A-EBPs) are agency level structures and activities positively associated with performance measures (e.g., achieving core public health functions, carrying out evidence-based interventions). The objectives of this study were to examine the contextual conditions and explore differences in local health department (LHD) characteristics that influence the implementation of A-EBPs.MethodsQualitative case studies were conducted based on data from 35 practitioners in six LHDs across the United States. The sample was chosen using an A-EBP score from our 2012 national survey and was linked to secondary data from the National Public Health Performance Standards Program. Three LHDs that scored high and three LHDs that scored low on both measures were selected as case study sites. The 37-question interview guide explored LHD use of an evidence based decision making process, including A-EBPs and evidence-based programs and policies. Each interview took 30–60 min. Standard qualitative methodology was used for data coding and analysis using NVivo software.ResultsAs might be expected, high-capacity LHDs were more likely to have strong leadership, partnerships, financial flexibility, workforce development activities, and an organizational culture supportive of evidence based decision making and implementation of A-EBPs. They were also more likely to describe having strong or important relationships with universities and other educational resources, increasing their access to resources and allowing them to more easily share knowledge and expertise.ConclusionsDifferences between high- and low-capacity LHDs in A-EBP domains highlight the importance of investments in these areas and the potential those investments have to contribute to overall efficiency and performance. Further research may identify avenues to enhance resources in these domains to create an organizational culture supportive of A-EBPs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0891-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Predictors of Participation in Workforce Development Activities among Older Women in Australia

Predictors of Participation in Workforce Development Activities among Older Women in Australia

Staff engagement with telehealth and coordinated care programmes: a landscaping study across EU regions

Introduction: The importance of staff engagement in the development of telehealth and coordinated care initiatives is well-established. Mainstreaming of pilot projects is dependent on motivating and engaging staff from an early stage (Broderick & Lindeman, 2013). In practical terms, staff engagement involves ensuring active involvement of the workforce in project development, provision of adequate training opportunities and nurturing of ‘clinical champions’ (Gagnon et al, 2012) This study explored staff engagement activities across telehealth and coordinated care activities within a number of European regions and programmes. The study formed one part of the EU-wide Advancing Coordinated Care and Telehealth Deployment (ACT) project, which aims to promote best practice in the use of digital integrated healthcare. Aims and objectives: The study aimed to provide an insight into the current landscape of staff engagement activities in telehealth and coordinated care programmes. There was particular interest in programmes’ perceptions of the importance of staff engagement and in the different activities that they carried out in this area of business change. Methods: The ACT project encompasses 17 telehealth and/or coordinated care programmes across five European regions. Managers from all programmes were sent a staff engagement survey comprising Likert-Scale items and prompts for free-text responses. The survey covered issues such as the strategic place of staff engagement, the involvement of clinicians in programme implementation, and workforce development activities.

Workforce Development at PEIC – Power Electronics Industry Collaborative

The Power Electronics Industry Collaborative is a national, industry driven membership-based consortium comprised of OEMs, suppliers, researchers, and other stakeholders working to accelerate the development and growth of power electronics in the US. As support grows for domestic energy storage and electric vehicle industries, the US has a promising opportunity to accelerate the power electronics industry. The US has the skills, markets, and technologies to meet the emerging demand for power electronics. As one of its key objectives, PEIC will work to develop a highly skilled, competitive workforce to support design and manufacturing needs of the power electronics industry. This presentation will cover workforce development activities at PEIC.

A decade of experience evolving visiting dental services in partnership with rural remote Aboriginal communities.

Embedding research capabilities and workforce development activities with clinical service entities promotes the development of sustainable, innovative, quality-focused oral health care services. Clinical and strategic governance is an important area of consideration for rural and remote dental services, posing particular challenges for smaller service structures. Sustaining remote area dental services has some significant complexities beyond those involved in urban service models. This study describes the sustaining structure of a remote area dental service with a decade of history. In the current climate, chief among these challenges may be those associated with dental workforce shortages as these impact most heavily in the public sector, and most particularly, in remote areas. As sustained workforce solutions come from developing a future workforce, an essential element of the workforce governance framework for remote dental service provision should be the inclusion of a student participation programme. Collaborative partnership approaches with Aboriginal health services promote the development and maintenance of effective, culturally sensitive dental services within rural and remote Aboriginal communities. Having sustained care for 10 years, this collaborative model of integrated research, education and service has demonstrated its effectiveness as a service model for Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. This descriptive study finds the core values for this success have been communication, clinical leadership, mentorship within effective governance systems all linked to an integrated education and research agenda.