Public health workforce development: update on Te Uru Kahikatea projects

Summary of progress from January - June 2009
 

It has been a busy and productive six month period (January - June 2009) for public health workforce development within the Ministry of Health and the public health sector.  The particular Te Uru Kahikatea achievements for this period are:

• One new tertiary qualification established 
• Fees grants offered to assist front line public health workers in entry level positions to begin to attain tertiary Public Health qualifications
• A new Maori public health leadership programme is well established
• The development of an action plan for Maori public health workforce development
• Tools to help organisations with their workforce development and to "ready" themselves for the generic public health competencies have been identified
• Multidisciplinary approaches to public health workforce development have been explored
• We are increasingly moving  towards stronger regional engagement in workforce development
• Ministry of Health (MOH) contracts now require MOH contracted public health organisations to produce workforce development plans
• Public health workforce recruitment videos targeted at school students and school leavers were produced and distributed
• Just the Job television series profiling four public health careers have been filmed and are screening October / November 2009
• Solid progress has been made in developing the assessment criteria that sit alongside the generic public health competencies
• An Integrated Competencies Framework is under development (a framework to help organisations map the many competencies sets relevant to their public health staff

Further detail on the 2009 progress is outlined in the TUK Six Monthly Outcomes Report 2009

 

Te Uru Kahikatea: public health workforce development projects
 

The current Te Uru Kahikatea projects are organised around the themes of the nine TUK Objectives.  Further detail on the specific actions and targets for each objective are outlined in TUK Summary Framework and the TUK 2009 Annual Workplan.  
 
 

1.  Public health: education and training 

 
Description

Establish an integrated and stair-cased framework of training, qualifications and ongoing education in public health.
 

2009 Workplan Priority:
Promote the development of more undergraduate tertiary public health qualifications – starting with an undergraduate health promotion/public health diploma.
 

Description continued ....

• Implement the generic public health competencies (GPHC) across the public health workforce to provide a common framework for professional development, and a foundation for skill development. 
• Integrate GPHC into professional development, education, training and workforce planning. 

2009 Workplan Priority: 

• Develop a framework for workplace based training of the GPHC across the public health sector. This includes; (1) developing training models tailored to the specific needs of the different types of workplaces, e.g. Public Health Units, large Non-Government organisations (NGOs), small NGOs, Maori, Pacific, etc, and (2) tools to assist workplaces to ready themselves for the workplace-based GPHC training.
• Continue work to put the GPHC onto the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) framework.

 
2.  Maori public health workforce development

 
Description:
Strengthen the Maori public health workforce and the capability of the non-Maori workforce to improve Maori health and reduce inequalities. 
 

2009 Workplan Priority:
Implement the priority recommendations from E Ara Tauwhaiti Whakarae: National Maori Public Health Workforce Development Implementation Plan.  This includes:

• Improve career pathways and leadership training for Maori
• Acknowledge and support the specialist skills for working with Maori whanau, hapu and iwi to effectively improve Maori health and reduce inequalities
• Ensure any new tertiary training programmes developed are relevant and accessible to Māori.

3.  Pacific public health workforce development

 
Description:
Strengthen the Pacific public health workforce and the capability of the non-Pacific workforce to improve Pacific health and reduce inequalities.
 

2009 Workplan Priorities:

• Increase the understanding of public health and public health roles.
• Improve the information about the Pacific public health workforce and share this, as appropriate, with key stakeholders.

4.  Public health professional infrastructure

 
Description
:Investigate options for an industry-wide approach to manage public health professional and sector development.
 
2009 Workplan Priority:
Strengthen and grow existing and new public health professional bodies to advance the professional development of their respective workforce disciplines. 
 
 

5.  Wider public health workforce development

Description:
Build the public health skills and knowledge of the wider health workforce by:

• Making existing and new public health/health promotion training relevant and accessible for the primary health care workforce
• Influencing the professional training and development of the wider health workforce.

2009 Workplan Priority:
Improve the wider health workforce’s (particularly the primary health care workforce’s) knowledge of health promotion / public health.

6.  Public health workforce planning

Description:
Develop a workforce planning resource that will assist public health organisations, the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards to:

• Meet the needs of their current public health workforce, and
• Predict and plan for future workforce needs.

2009 Workplan Priority:
Provide an effective resource that can be used by the public health sector to plan for current public health workforce needs and predict future public health needs.
 
 

7.  Public health workforce development information, policy and research

 
Description:
Obtain workforce and service delivery information to inform public health workforce development.
 

2009 Workplan Priority:
Ensure that the public health workforce is included in the wider health workforce information programmes and planning.

8.  Public health organisations: supportive workplace cultures

 
Description:
Assist workplaces to develop cultures that support ongoing learning and professional development and provide
tools to support their strategic workforce development planning.
 

2009 Workplan Priorities:

• Implement the Workforce Development Guidelines for Public Health Managers (Workforce Development Plan Guidelines).
• Develop a model to shape the way workforce development funding is provided through contracts between the Ministry of Health and organisations that provide public health services.

9.  Promoting public health careers

 
Description:
Actively expand the understanding of public health and promote career opportunities. 
 

2009 Workplan Priorities:

• Promote public health careers, including developing recruitment tools and materials (print and web based).
• Work with existing professional groups, tertiary training providers, careers advisors, etc., and use careers promotion opportunities, to increase the entry numbers into under-represented occupational groups in public health.
• Improve the wider health workforce’s understanding of public health.

 
Further detail on the specific actions and targets for each objective are outlined in TUK Summary Framework and the TUK 2009 Annual Workplan.