BACKGROUND Data describing the Australian allied health workforce is inadequate and so insufficient for workforce planning. National health policy reform requires that health-care models take into account future workforce requirements, the distribution and work contexts of existing practitioners, training needs, workforce roles and scope of practice. Good information on this workforce is essent...

Workforce development stands out as a neglected focus of scholarship in the field of public health nutrition. So much so that it undermines the development of public health nutrition as a field of practice and professional activity, and ultimately limits the effectiveness of effort applied in this arena. This editorial challenges readers to consider and address ten key challenges (under the sub...

Health workforce has become a major concern and a significant health policy issue around the world in recent years. With recent international and national initiatives and models being developed and implemented in Australia and other countries, it is timely to understand the need and the rationale for a better trained and educated public health workforce for the future. Much more attention shoul...

Purpose: A growing need for oral health care is challenged by the maldistribution of oral health providers and lack of opportunity to access oral health care in the current system among underserved populations. Emerging workforce models, such as dental therapists, is one option for improving oral health equity and promoting access across racial/ethnic and socio-demographic groups while addressi...

Analysts predict impending shortages in the health care workforce, yet wages for healthcare workers already account for over half of U.S. health expenditures. It is thus increasinglyimportant to adequately plan to meet health workforce demand at reasonable cost. Using infinitelinear programming methodology, we propose an infinite-horizon model for health workforceplanning in...

BACKGROUND Public health workforce planning and policy development require adequate data on the public health workforce and the services provided. If existing data sources do not contain the necessary information, or apply to part of the workforce only, primary data collection is required. The aim of this study was to develop a strategy to enumerate and characterize the public health workforce ...

BACKGROUND Research on practical and effective governance of the health workforce is limited. This paper examines health system strengthening as it occurs in the intersection between the health workforce and governance by presenting a framework to examine health workforce issues related to eight governance principles: strategic vision, accountability, transparency, information, efficiency, equi...

There are recognised shortages in most health professions in Australia. This is evidence that previous attempts at health workforce planning have failed. This paper argues that one reason for such failure is the lack of appropriate structures for health workforce planning. It also suggests that Australia needs to move beyond planning for particular professions and that health workforce planning...

The health and social care workforce is now the largest segment of the Australian workforce with over 1.4million workers. In a personnel-intensive industry such as health,workforce is themost important single issue to address as we look to the future of our health system. Driven as it is by the increasing demand of chronic disease, ageing and a population that has a voracious appetite for healt...

CONTEXT Discipline-specific workforce development initiatives have been a focus in recent years. This is due, in part, to competency-based training standards and funding sources that reinforce programmatic silos within state and local health departments. OBJECTIVE National leadership groups representing the specific disciplines within public health were asked to look beyond their discipline-s...