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Issues in researching new professional roles 31.3.09

Issues in researching new professional roles 31.3.09. Ann Crosland University of Sunderland. What are new professional roles?. Not a commonly recognised term Professional or not? New roles or development of existing roles

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Issues in researching new professional roles 31.3.09

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  1. Issues in researching new professional roles31.3.09 Ann Crosland University of Sunderland

  2. What are new professional roles? • Not a commonly recognised term • Professional or not? • New roles or development of existing roles • Captures an area of research undertaken by a number of staff associated with the CTRPH

  3. Background • Growing number of new roles developed over recent years in response to changing health priorities • Part of an agenda to develop a more flexible and responsive workforce • Roles developed across the workforce spectrum but new roles commonly developed in lower workforce bands • Not exclusive to public health and often span disciplines and organisations

  4. Examples of new roles • Health trainers • Condition management practitioners • Graduate mental health workers • Community development workers for black and minority ethnic communities • Peer support workers

  5. Research into new roles • Has tended to focus on descriptive accounts of the work or training • Largely atheoretical • Process rather than outcome focused • Few attempts to assess effectiveness or cost effectiveness • Organisational issues rarely addressed

  6. What can we learn from existing research? • Workers are often valued by users of services • Workers often valued by those working closely with them • Training valued by new workers themselves • Problems tend to focus on: • Professional isolation • Remuneration compared with others • Lack of career opportunities • Morale • Sustainability in a rapidly changing environment

  7. The graduate workers example • Introduced in NHS plan 2000 • 1000 graduates in primary care • Initially targeted at psychology graduates • Three areas of activity carried out in relation to common mental health issues • Therapeutic role • Team working • Networking

  8. Graduate workers: benefits • Seen as offering a fresh perspective free from ‘professional baggage’ • Provided a wider range of support than previously available in particular in relation to guided self-help • Freed up time of others with more specialist skills • Important to team working and motivation of other staff

  9. Graduate workers challenges • Organisational readiness • Scepticism of other staff • Professional protectionism • Lack of career structure • Funding arrangements could make them easy to get rid of

  10. Lessons • Supervision and support of other influential people within the organisation critical to success and sustainability • Lack of longer term planning can lead to problems with recruitment and retention • Organisation needs preparation for workers • Lack of professional accreditation or alignment can lead to a sense of insecurity

  11. Lessons • Outcomes need to be captured in different layers of the system and to reflect the full range of the workers activities including: • Established measures of effectiveness at a client level • Extent to which workers are valued by colleagues and clients • Measures of integration and team working • Contribution they make to the priorities of the organisation

  12. Challenges of research into new professional roles • New roles are often driven by political patronage • The landscape shifts very quickly • Need to draw on ideas from a range of disciplines • Funding • How to capture issues about changing existing roles

  13. Postragraduate research projects • The tensions of theory and practice for the development and integration of new public health roles (April Dickens, Sunderland) • Health trainers (Heather Yeoli, Northumbria) • Engagement and behaviour change in the NHS health trainers initiative (ShelinaVisram Northumbria)

  14. Other activities within this strand • An evidence synthesis relating to the health related lifestyle advisers role in improving health and well-being (Carr, Donaldson, White and Michie) • Mapping the journey into economic inclusion for people with mental health problems: understanding roles in the third sector (Crosland, Carr, Ritchie et al) • Seminar series- bid to go to ESRC

  15. Future issues for consideration • Capturing and maximising the translational element of new and expanded roles • How to capitalise on the new roles elements of other projects • Integrating learning from the range of projects being undertaken within this strand • Drawing in expertise and knowledge from a wider range of academic and practice based disciplines • Feeding lessons back into partner organisations

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