Health Human Resources planning for regional health

Co-leads

Dr. Catherine Donnelly, Associate Professor, School of Rehabilitation Therapy and Director of Health Services and Policy Research Institute, Queen’s University

Dr. Joan Almost, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Queen’s University and Scholar in Residence with Canadian Nurses Association

Collaborators

Mr. Will Lakusta, Associate Director, Health Workforce Integration (Ontario Health)

Dr. Duncan Sinclair, one-time Vice-Principal (Health Sciences) and Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Queen’s University, current member of the Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Ontario Health Team Partnership Council

Students

Vaska Jones, Nurse Practitioner and PhD student

Raquel Ramos, Registered Nurse and MNSc student

Study Co-investigators

Dr. Morgan Slater, Research Scientist at Health Services and Policy Institute and Assistant Professor (Adjunct) with the Department of Family Medicine at Queen’s University and Adjunct Scientist at ICES

Dr. Joan Tranmer, Professor, School of Nursing, Queen’s University, and Senior Scientist, ICES

Dr. Jane Philpott, Dean Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University, and CEO of Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization (SEAMO)

Knowledge Users

Dr. Kim Morrison, co-lead of the Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Ontario Health Team and practicing family physician

Ms. Anne O’Riordan, Patient and Family Advisory Council Member for Kingston Health Sciences Centre and member of the Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Ontario Health Team Partnership Council

Dr. Christopher Simpson, Executive Vice President (Medical) and Chief Medical Officer at Ontario Health

Project Manager

Genevieve Pare, MSc

What? Planning for the most appropriate healthcare workforce to deliver care is of utmost importance in achieving the best possible patient and caregiver experience, improving the health of populations, reducing healthcare costs, improving the work life of providers, and advancing health equity. In Ontario, this vision guides the Ontario Health Teams, who provide integrated, innovative and efficient care across multiple sectors (e.g., primary care, hospitals, long-term care, community-based services, etc.). Historically, health human resources (HHR) planning has been done in isolation for individual professions, or in a single healthcare setting at a time, without formal guidance or vision for a regional approach.

Why? The ultimate goal of health human resources (HHR) planning is to determine the right mix of health care providers to meet the needs of a given population. In integrated models of care such as the Ontario Health Teams, HHR planning at the regional level may help develop and deploy the right number and mix of providers to ensure the seamless delivery of care across multiple sectors.

How? By summarizing the current efforts at HHR planning across Ontario, interviewing key partners in the community and those providing healthcare, and by leveraging routinely collected data on population demographics, population clinical markers, and health workforce, the team will develop preliminary policy recommendations to regional HHR planning. The preliminary policy recommendations will form the basis of a virtual policy workshop with representatives from local, provincial and federal levels. Guided by deliberative dialogue, participants will be invited to share their expertise and know-how to further improve the policy recommendations. The research project will ultimately lead to the development of policy briefs and guidance for local/regional HHR planning.

Impact of findings: The knowledge generated and resultant policy recommendations will offer a template for how other integrated care models can support regional HHR planning to meet local population needs.

Funded By

Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Catalyst Grant Policy Research for Health System Transformation