The purpose of this research is to locate, analyse and make accessible innovative models of health training and service delivery that have been developed in response to a shortage of skill. The characteristics of and demand for health workers will be mapped to establish the current and projected skill shortage contexts to which the models could be applied or adapted.
1. When and where have innovative and effective training and/or service delivery models been developed in response to skill shortages in health?
a. What are the features and indicators that are perceived to signal a skill shortage in models reported in the literature?
b. What are the characteristics of the models reported in the literature developed in response?
2. What do readily available statistics and related literature tell us about the current and likely future structure of the national health workforce in terms of likely future health skill shortages? Are there issues in relation to:
a. location (state and rurality);
b. demographics of the workforce, e.g. age; gender;
c. job vacancies;
d. numbers of trained people likely to enter the health workforce, with an emphasis on VET qualifications, but considering the spill over effects of shortages of higher education qualified professionals on VET qualified health workers?
3. Where and how could the identified innovative models be applied to address current and predicted skill shortages in health?
A project reference group will be established, including representatives of the Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council, Australian Rural Health Education Network, health professional bodies, government health departments and health consumer groups.
The methodology will involve:
Identifying and analysing readily available statistics and literature on the structure of the national health workforce and perceived skill shortages in health. This step will draw on the background information contained in the Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council's Strategic Plan 2004-2008, supplemented by other secondary data, primarily from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and National Centre for Vocational Education Research. As there is a Productivity Commission project looking at the health workforce, it is not proposed to gather primary data on the structure of the health workforce. This step will also locate and review literature on perceived skill shortages in health in Australia in the last ten years to identify the skills perceived to be in short supply, the locations of the shortages and the factors contributing to the perceived shortages, such as retention and wastage. The areas where skill shortage pressure is occurring and is likely to occur in the near future will be identified from a descriptive analysis of the data and the literature, with input from the project reference group.
Identifying when and where skill shortages in health have been addressed with innovative and effective models. It is expected that these will be a mix of innovative service delivery models and training solutions from Australia and international examples that could be transposed to the Australian context. This step will:
* locate and review literature and other information on innovative models for training and service delivery in health
* identify barriers and enhancers to training and innovative delivery
* ask key stakeholders in health to nominate effective innovative models
Identifying and reviewing innovative training and service delivery models that address skill shortages in health from the literature and nominations of innovative and effective examples. Examples will be restricted to those primarily involving VET qualified staff, and/or using the VET system to train staff. It is anticipated that around 50 models will be selected, and approximately six will be written up as detailed case studies, to assist others wanting to apply or adapt the models to their own contexts.
The Department of Rural Health, headed by Associate Professor Sue Kilpatrick, has approximately 40 staff in three locations in Tasmania. It has built a strong team of experienced researchers and evaluators drawn a wide range of disciplines and professional practice areas including nursing, sociology, education and health science. Our team works predominantly with multi-method approaches to research in areas of health service delivery, policy and the training and education of health professionals. This means that our team are able to apply both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis to research problems as appropriate.
