Biomedical subjects

Susan Nancarrow

Publications and source records attributed to Susan Nancarrow.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Stakeholder views of the training needs of an interprofessional practitioner who works with older people.

This paper, reports on United Kingdom research to examine the education and training requirements of an interprofessional practitioner for older people. The research was part of a larger study, funded by a local Workforce Development Confederation to identify whether there is a need for an interprofessional practitioner, and if so, determine their role and training requirements. Views of clients, carers and service providers were elicited using multiple methods including interviews, focus groups and questionnaires. The majority of service providers identified the need for an interprofessional practitioner and confirmed that these staff already exist within many multi-disciplinary community teams. The range of educational needs identified reflects the understanding that rehabilitation for older people requires a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills that cover both 'health' and 'social' needs. It was felt that education and training should be established and accredited at a national level, with a career structure and appropriate recognition of the interprofessional role. Clients and carers identified unmet needs and want a 'Jack of all trades' who will complement the existing workforce. They recommended that recognised qualifications would provide interprofessional workers with 'status' and therefore acceptance by other professionals. This paper, discusses the implications of the stakeholder views on interprofessional education and training.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

"There's no place like home" a pilot study of perspectives of international health and social care professionals working in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Many countries are reporting health workforce shortages across a range of professions at a time of relatively high workforce mobility. Utilising the global market to supply shortage health skills is now a common recruitment strategy in many developed countries. At the same time a number of countries report a 'brain drain' resulting from professional people leaving home to work overseas. Many health and social care professionals make their way to the UK from other countries. This pilot study utilises a novel 'e-survey' approach to explore the motives, experiences and perspectives of non-UK health and social care professionals who were working or had worked in the UK. The study aims to understand the contributions of international health and social care workers to the UK and their 'home' countries. The purpose of the pilot study is also in part to test the appropriateness of this methodology for undertaking a wider study. RESULTS: A 24-item questionnaire with open-ended and multiple choice questions was circulated via email to 10 contacts who were from a country outside the UK, had trained outside the UK and had email access. These contacts were requested to forward the email to other contacts who met these criteria (and so on). The email was circulated over a one month pilot period to 34 contacts. Responses were from physiotherapists (n = 11), speech therapists (n = 4), social workers (n = 10), an occupational therapist (n = 1), podiatrists (n = 5), and others (n = 3). Participants were from Australia (n = 20), South Africa (n = 10), New Zealand (n = 3) and the Republic of Ireland (n = 1). Motives for relocating to the UK included travel, money and career opportunities. Participants identified a number of advantages and disadvantages of working in the UK compared to working in their home country health system. Respondents generally reported that by working in the UK, they had accumulated skills and knowledge that would allow them to contribute more to their profession and health system on their return home. CONCLUSION: This pilot study highlights a range of issues and future research questions for international learning and comparison for the health and social care professions as a result of international workforce mobility. The study also highlights the usefulness of an e-survey technique for capturing information from a geographically diverse and mobile group of professionals.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Dynamic role boundaries in intermediate care services.

This paper examines the impact of intermediate care service delivery on the role boundaries of service providers. Two intermediate care teams were selected as case studies to explore the roles of workers in the context of an admission avoidance and assisted discharge service. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 26 intermediate care staff, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, a social worker and support workers. The study found that therapists' roles were most closely aligned with each other, whilst nurses perceived their roles as being distinct from therapists, with a more medical emphasis. Therapists and nurses delegate a range of tasks to support workers, although the nature of task delegation differed across the two teams. A number of factors were associated with the role flexibility of staff including the setting, duration and nature of care, access to alternative care providers and the ability of staff to undertake joint visits. Contrary to previous research, the practitioners were not threatened by overlapping roles, and recognised that confidence in their own roles and an understanding of the roles of other workers was necessary to avoid feeling threatened. The study concludes that intermediate care can promote role overlap across a range of workers. Role overlap can enhance clinician confidence in their own area of expertise whilst optimising patient care. Role overlap has the potential to optimise limited staff resources in an interprofessional working environment. Interprofessional working can be enhanced in the workplace through joint visits and shared working practices.

Humans↗