Continuing differences between health professions' attitudes: the saga of accomplishing systems-wide interprofessionalism.

Objective: To compare four health professions' attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration (IPC) and their evaluations of a programme aimed at enhancing IPC across a health system.

Design: Questionnaire survey.

Setting: Australian Capital Territory health services.

Assisting role redesign: a qualitative evaluation of the implementation of a podiatry assistant role to a community health setting utilising a traineeship approach.

Background: Increasing demands for podiatry combined with workforce shortages due to attrition, part-time working practices and rural healthcare shortages means that in some geographic areas in Australia there are insufficient professionals to meet service demand. Although podiatry assistants have been introduced to help relieve workforce shortages there has been little evaluation of their impact on patient, staff and/or service outcomes. This research explores the processes and outcomes of a 'trainee' approach to introducing a podiatry assistant (PA) role to a community setting in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government Health Service Directorate.

A four-year, systems-wide intervention promoting interprofessional collaboration.

Background: A four-year action research study was conducted across the Australian Capital Territory health system to strengthen interprofessional collaboration (IPC) though multiple intervention activities.

Methods: We developed 272 substantial IPC intervention activities involving 2,407 face-to-face encounters with health system personnel. Staff attitudes toward IPC were surveyed yearly using Heinemann et al's Attitudes toward Health Care Teams and Parsell and Bligh's Readiness for Interprofessional Learning scales (RIPLS).

Interprofessional education in health sciences: the University of Queensland Health Care Team Challenge.

Successful transition of students to competent work-ready health professionals requires an ability to work in health care teams. Poor communication and teamwork practice has been implicated as a contributing source of error affecting patient safety. Traditional university curriculum structures severely limit the time that students from different professions can spend together, learning about and from each other (interprofessional education [IPE]).

Workload capacity measures for estimating allied health staffing requirements.

Workforce planning methodologies for the allied health professions are acknowledged as rudimentary despite the increasing importance of these professions to health care across the spectrum of health services settings. The objectives of this study were to (i) identify workload capacity measures and methods for profiling allied health workforce requirements from a systematic review of the international literature; (ii) explore the use of these methods in planning workforce requirements; (iii) identify barriers to applying such methods; and (iv) recommend further action. Future approaches to workforce planning were explored through a systematic review of the literature, interviews with key stakeholders and focus group discussions with representatives from the different professional bodies and health agencies in Victoria.

Modes of organising at two health services organizations: a case study approach.

This paper applies a case study methodology to examine the development of two distinct models of organising allied health professionals within two health service organizations. In particular, it explores options in modes of organising. Case study data reflected that in one case a single stakeholder entity was achieved through the development of quasi-shareholder roles for allied health discipline leaders.

Beyond organisational design: moving from structure to service enhancement.

The Australian health care industry prior to the 1990s was notable for its relative stability and uniformity in relation to organisational design. Since then, new organisational designs have proliferated and a diversity of approaches is evident. The new fluidity in organisational design is particularly evident amongst the allied health professions.