Allied Health Building Leadership Experience (ABLE): Training Allied Health Representatives in a Tertiary Health Service setting
Clare Ramsden1 1Tasmanian Health Service Hospitals South, Hobart, TAS, Australia
Abstract
A goal for Allied Health in the Tasmanian Health Service Hospitals South, has been to increase engagement and representation of Allied Health across all levels of the organisation. While this has led to greater integration of Allied Health in the strategic and operational activity of the organisation, it has resulted in a need for more staff to attend committees and working groups as Allied Health representatives. Whilst Allied Health staff are keen to engage in this work, they often feel poorly equipped to act beyond their discipline skillbase on behalf of the broader Allied Health cohort. After determining that there were no viable external training options to build Allied Health representative skills for our workforce, we established an internal training program in 2021 called Allied Health Building Leadership Experience (ABLE). This program includes three core components: education, mentoring and observation, with a key focus on building Allied Health staff networks. The program is delivered by senior Allied Health staff, which builds engagement with our Allied Health leaders, and we use the broader ABLE cohort (previous participants and mentors) to build a network of Allied Health contacts that support staff to take on Allied Health representative roles. To date, we have run two full programs for 24 Allied Health staff, with an expansion of the program this year to include another 21 ABLE participants. The program is cost neutral to the organisation, but provides considerable benefits. This presentation will review the program structure and outcomes for our workforce so far.
Biography
Dr Clare Ramsden is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and currently the Acting Executive Director of Allied Health at the Tasmanian Health Service, Hospitals South. She completed her doctoral studies in Clinical Neuropsychology at La Trobe University before going on to work in clinical roles in acquired brain injury and rehabilitation services in the United Kingdom and New Zealand before returning to Tasmania in 2014. She is a committee member of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI) and the Organisation for Psychological Research in Stroke (OPsyRIS), and is a Fellow of the College of Clinical Neuropsychologists.