Looking Together

By Brenda Myers

If we plan for the future, we need to think about what society will need. If we think about what society will need, we must identify who will fill that need. If we identify who will fill the need, we must determine how best to prepare them for this role and how best to manage our human resources in health.

Health reform is providing new approaches that integrate health agencies, health care organizations and departments within organizations. Policy planners, legislators and administrators see health disciplines as another set of "chimneys" -- separate, isolated -- that are a barrier to reform. While respecting that health professionals do have unique competencies, recognition must also be given to shared competencies. There are situations where one provider could substitute for another, offering cost-effective staffing alternatives. The opportunities increase as disciplines begin to understand each other better, share knowledge, learn and develop skills together and self-manage in teams.

Integrated approaches to health human resources development are needed. Human resources are at the core of the Canadian health care system, accounting for well over 50 per cent of its cost. Current methods of planning, educating and managing human resources will not meet the challenges of the future.

Four organizations representing nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dietitians (Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA), Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) and Canadian Dietetic Association (CDA) respectively) have committed to shared leadership in planning for the future. Our goal is to ensure the right mix and distribution of providers who are appropriately prepared and managed to deliver services and meet the health needs of the Canadian population.

Consumer-centred approaches are at the heart of the changes in human resource development. Gone will be: individual health professional groups justifying their numbers and their numbers alone; separate-discipline education and training structures; knowledge boundaries (i.e. turf protection) that interfere with good consumer service; and costly duplication.

Instead, there will be: team providers; trust between each other; leadership sharing; coordination of decision-making; learning from one another; and contribution of unique knowledge in a way that guarantees high-quality consumer service.

Integration brings its own set of fears. Loss of independent identity, blending of departments, job loss, and upheaval in service delivery as professionals adjust to a new way of operating are all issues to be addressed.

What evidence is there that integrated approaches work? That’s the question that all four associations will try to answer with the participation of policy planners, legislators, educators and other health disciplines. If we focus clearly on the three major components -- human resources planning, education and training of health services providers, and management of health human resources -- the solutions will be found.

The Canadian Physiotherapy Association is pleased to work closely with CNA, CAOT and CDA and with other health professions to develop solutions, seizing opportunity to shape our future and responding to a new world where health is defined differently and consumers are part of the team.

(Brenda Myers is Executive Director of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association.)