Implementing the Victorian Allied Health Assistant Workforce Recommendations and Resources in Victorian public health services: A coaching pilot
Lucy Whelan1,2, Sharon McLean1,2, Sandra Glagovski1,2, Jessica Huglin1,21Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia2Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Abstract
The role of the Allied health assistant is well known within the health sector. Governance and training for this workforce have been the subject of discussion and reports in Victoria for over a decade. However, assistant workforces are yet to be utilised optimally in health, disability or aged care settings.
The Victorian Allied Health Assistant Workforce Project, commissioned in 2019 by the Department of Health (DH), has delivered 18 recommendations and accompanying resources supporting optimal utilisation of Allied health assistants across health, aged care and disability sectors. This project (2020-2022) built on several initiatives conducted in the last decade, seeking to develop the assistant workforce. In late 2022 the core principles, recommendations and accompanying resources were finalised. The project team has since commenced an implementation coaching phase to provide support to Victorian public health services to utilise the developed recommendations and resources.
A non-experimental, pre- and post- mixed methods design is being used to evaluate the outcomes of the tailored implementation coaching program. This study is being conducted utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods. Monash Health Human Research Ethics Committee approved this research (HREC Approval number RES-20-0000-356L / ERM 64899) and all participants were provided with written informed consent.
At the time of conference, two workplaces will have undergone their full coaching period and four others will have commenced their sixteen week coaching program.
Results will include organisational readiness results, workforce survey responses and post implementation interview outcomes, further supported by the presentation of Project team reflections on the process, the barriers and the enablers to success.
This research will provide insight into the supports required to enhance implementation of workforce recommendations and resources in public health settings. This will provide a model for other health networks hoping to implement the Victorian Allied Health Assistant Workforce Recommendations and Resources.
Biography
Lucy Whelan is a Physiotherapist by background with a Masters of Public Health and a career spanning over 25 years in Australia and the United Kingdom. She is passionate about quality driven improvement and appropriate governance for all. Lucy is currently project managing the Victorian Allied Health Assistant Workforce Project for the Department of Health in Victoria alongside her role as Allied Health Workforce, Innovation, Strategy, Education and Research (WISER) Unit Manager. The WISER Unit with the CAHO, provides governance in workforce, innovation, strategy, education and research for all of the Allied health workforce (1800 people) at Monash Health.