1 / 15

Issues in researching new professional roles 31.3.09

Issues in researching new professional roles 31.3.09. Ann Crosland University of Sunderland. What are new professional roles?. Not a commonly recognised term Professional or not? New roles or development of existing roles

mandy
Download Presentation

Issues in researching new professional roles 31.3.09

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Issues in researching new professional roles31.3.09 Ann Crosland University of Sunderland

  2. What are new professional roles? • Not a commonly recognised term • Professional or not? • New roles or development of existing roles • Captures an area of research undertaken by a number of staff associated with the CTRPH

  3. Background • Growing number of new roles developed over recent years in response to changing health priorities • Part of an agenda to develop a more flexible and responsive workforce • Roles developed across the workforce spectrum but new roles commonly developed in lower workforce bands • Not exclusive to public health and often span disciplines and organisations

  4. Examples of new roles • Health trainers • Condition management practitioners • Graduate mental health workers • Community development workers for black and minority ethnic communities • Peer support workers

  5. Research into new roles • Has tended to focus on descriptive accounts of the work or training • Largely atheoretical • Process rather than outcome focused • Few attempts to assess effectiveness or cost effectiveness • Organisational issues rarely addressed

  6. What can we learn from existing research? • Workers are often valued by users of services • Workers often valued by those working closely with them • Training valued by new workers themselves • Problems tend to focus on: • Professional isolation • Remuneration compared with others • Lack of career opportunities • Morale • Sustainability in a rapidly changing environment

  7. The graduate workers example • Introduced in NHS plan 2000 • 1000 graduates in primary care • Initially targeted at psychology graduates • Three areas of activity carried out in relation to common mental health issues • Therapeutic role • Team working • Networking

  8. Graduate workers: benefits • Seen as offering a fresh perspective free from ‘professional baggage’ • Provided a wider range of support than previously available in particular in relation to guided self-help • Freed up time of others with more specialist skills • Important to team working and motivation of other staff

  9. Graduate workers challenges • Organisational readiness • Scepticism of other staff • Professional protectionism • Lack of career structure • Funding arrangements could make them easy to get rid of

  10. Lessons • Supervision and support of other influential people within the organisation critical to success and sustainability • Lack of longer term planning can lead to problems with recruitment and retention • Organisation needs preparation for workers • Lack of professional accreditation or alignment can lead to a sense of insecurity

  11. Lessons • Outcomes need to be captured in different layers of the system and to reflect the full range of the workers activities including: • Established measures of effectiveness at a client level • Extent to which workers are valued by colleagues and clients • Measures of integration and team working • Contribution they make to the priorities of the organisation

  12. Challenges of research into new professional roles • New roles are often driven by political patronage • The landscape shifts very quickly • Need to draw on ideas from a range of disciplines • Funding • How to capture issues about changing existing roles

  13. Postragraduate research projects • The tensions of theory and practice for the development and integration of new public health roles (April Dickens, Sunderland) • Health trainers (Heather Yeoli, Northumbria) • Engagement and behaviour change in the NHS health trainers initiative (ShelinaVisram Northumbria)

  14. Other activities within this strand • An evidence synthesis relating to the health related lifestyle advisers role in improving health and well-being (Carr, Donaldson, White and Michie) • Mapping the journey into economic inclusion for people with mental health problems: understanding roles in the third sector (Crosland, Carr, Ritchie et al) • Seminar series- bid to go to ESRC

  15. Future issues for consideration • Capturing and maximising the translational element of new and expanded roles • How to capitalise on the new roles elements of other projects • Integrating learning from the range of projects being undertaken within this strand • Drawing in expertise and knowledge from a wider range of academic and practice based disciplines • Feeding lessons back into partner organisations

More Related