National Health Education RoundtableCanberra, 21 November 2012

Comments from CAPHIAThe Council of Academic Public Health

Institutions Australia

• Peak national organisation representing 25 Schools and Departments of Public Health that:– Offer undergraduate and postgraduate award programs, research

and community service in public health throughout Australia

– Provide Public Health training into clinical and allied health programs

– Deliver non-award continuing professional development training for the wider health and human service workforce

– Partner with Public Health Indigenous Leadership in Education (PHILE) Network supporting Indigenous content in public health education and the education of the indigenous public health workforce

CAPHIA Member Priorities

• Define “Public Health Workforce”

• Review competencies for public health workforce, and the public health and health promotion capacity of the wider health workforce to deliver on prevention

• Ensure Australian Universities provide the undergraduate and postgraduate programs required to meet increasing demands for public health capacity

• Provide advanced training to build leadership and research capacity in the health workforce

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Professional entry and professional development

Health Workforce 2025

• Public Health Physician training core discipline areas (MPH):– Epidemiology– Biostatistics– Health protection– Health promotion– Health policy, planning or management

• Public health physician activity not captured (hospital utilisation rates and Medicare).

• Dual qualified Underestimate public health if not identified as main speciality.

• Public Health workforce much broader than PH Physicians

Public health physicians

• critical component of the medical service delivery workforce

• shortage in the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Western Australia,

• expanding beyond established roles (in health protection, health promotion, population-level disease prevention, and epidemiology).

National Health Education Roundtable

Health Workforce 2025

now encompasses leading clinical strategies to meet current and emerging health challenges, such as chronic disease management, health system planning and whole system leadership and management (with bodies such as Medicare Locals and the National Preventive Health Agency). This expanded role may have consequent impacts on workforce supply and demand.

Public Health Physician Profile

• AIHW – In 2009, 118 active public health physicians in Australia

with average age of 51 years and 36 percent aged > 55.

• AFPHM data from 2012 - nearly 600 active fellows and trainees in Australia.

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Health Workforce 2025

Does not address:

• the entire health workforce outside the clinical and primary care settings (prevention, health promotion and primary health care-focused)

• skill shortages and training needs in public health, allied health and Indigenous health that warrant their own evaluation and initiative– Employer Survey (DoHA and ANAPHI)– Health workforce health promotion/prevention readiness

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Health Workforce 2025

Recommendations• Recognition of the breadth and depth of the Public Health

workforce and the range of educational programs and training options required to skill and build the workforce

• Training funding broadened beyond clinical focus (withdrawal of PHERP funding and Commonwealth Supported Places in postgraduate public health training)

• Review of career pathways in the health workforce and the recognition and incentives given to professional development in Public Health

Recommendations• Support for articulation pathways for VET trained Aboriginal

Health Workers into undergraduate and higher degrees

• Identification and development of dedicated tertiary degree pathways in key Aboriginal Health priority areas

• Aboriginal Health Workers be included under National Skills Need List for Australian Apprenticeships to enhance access for further funding

Recommendations• Utilise emerging Medicare Local partnerships and existing

regional partnerships (PCPs etc,) to identify skills shortages and training opportunities (award and CPD),and to help address these through research and training collaboration.

$$ support for teaching-research-practice nexus partnerships

• Fund selected Public Health internships to support the translation of new knowledge and skills into the health workforce in identified areas of skill shortage (regional basis, specialisation/expertise)

• Allocate DrPH scholarships for targeted capacity-building within current health workforce (IPE, or specific regional focus or dedicated skill development etc)

Public Health Workforce Education

• Diverse and integrated, and inter-professionally adept workforce

• Capacity = public health professionals and health professionals with public health competencies

• Essential integrated component of the health workforce, but we are yet to find ways to achieve dedicated support.

• Education strategies need to encourage both growth in the workforce, and up-skilling of the current public health and wider health workforce if we are to deliver on the national preventative health agenda

• Dedicated support programs for building Indigenous Public Health capacity is fundamental to Closing the Gap

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