ORCID Profile
0000-0002-0418-9280
Current Organisation
Deakin University
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Publisher: Emerald
Date: 09-03-2022
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 12-2022
DOI: 10.1108/JICA-04-2020-0022
Abstract: While Australia has continued to invest in polices and strategies aimed at improving rural health service provision, many communities still confront a disproportionate share of the rural workforce shortage. The NSW Rural Doctors Network (RDN) contributes its perspectives about the importance of a whole of life career and the meandering stream concept to support the retention of health professionals rurally. We unpack these concepts and examine how they bring to light a new and useful approach to addressing rural workforce challenges and potentially contribute to building a stronger integrated care approach. The approach used involved tapping into RDN's 30-years of experience in recruitment and retention of remote and rural health professionals, combined with insights from relevant existing and emerging evidence. We suggest that reframing retention to consider a life stage approach to career will guide more effective targeting of rural health policies, workforce planning, collaborative approaches and allocation of incentives. We posit that an understanding and acceptance of modern lifestyles and career pathways, and a celebration of career commitment to serving rural communities, is necessary for successful recruitment and retention of Australia's future rural health workforce beyond the training pipeline. We outline and visually represent RDN's meandering stream approach to building and retaining a capable rural health workforce through addressing life cycle and workforce level needs. This perspective paper draws on RDN's direct experience in the field.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 07-02-2022
DOI: 10.2196/33413
Abstract: There is a need to further investigate how persuasive design principles can change rural health professionals’ behaviors to look after their own health workforce capability. Several theories are used when developing apps to persuade people to change behavior, including the Persuasive System Design Model, consisting of primary task, dialogue, system credibility, and social support categories, and Cialdini’s principles of persuasion. These have not been analyzed yet in the field of health workforce capability. This study aims to determine the persuasive design techniques used in capability building–related apps and to provide recommendations for designing a health workforce app to increase their persuasiveness. A Python script was used to extract a total of 3060 apps from Google Play. Keywords centered around health workforce capability elements. App inclusion criteria were as follows: been updated since 2019, rated by users on average 4 and above, and more than 100,000 downloads. Next, 2 experts reviewed whether 32 persuasive strategies were used in the selected apps, and these were further analyzed by capability categories: competencies and skills, health and personal qualities, values and attitudes, and work organization. In all, 53 mobile apps were systematically reviewed to identify the persuasive design techniques. The most common were surface credibility (n=48, 90.6%) and liking (n=48), followed by trustworthiness (n=43, 81.1%), reminders (n=38, 71.7%), and suggestion (n=30, 56.6%). The techniques in the social support domain were the least used across the different apps analyzed for health workforce capability, whereas those in the primary task support domain were used most frequently. The recommendations reflect learnings from our analysis. These findings provided insight into mobile app design principles relevant to apps used in improving health workforce capability. Our review showed that there are many persuasive design techniques that can assist in building health workforce capability. Additionally, several apps are available in the market that can assist in improving health workforce capability. There is, however, a specific lack of digital, real-time support to improve health workforce capability. Social support strategies through using social support persuasive design techniques will need to be integrated more prominently into a health workforce capability app. An app to measure and monitor health workforce capability scores can be used in conjunction with direct real-world person and real-time support to discuss and identify solutions to improve health workforce capability for rural and remote health professionals who are at high risk of burnout or leaving the rural health workforce.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 20-11-2021
Abstract: ealth professionals’ perceptions of persuasive design techniques for use in technological solutions to improve health workforce capability have not been previously explored. his study aims to explore rural health professionals’ perceptions of health workforce capability and persuasive design techniques and translate these into recommendations for designing a health workforce capability app to increase their impact and usefulness. ualitative interviews with 13 rural health professionals were conducted. Subsequently, 32 persuasive techniques were used as a framework to deductively analyze the data. Persuasive design technique domains were Primary Task Support, Dialog Support, System Credibility Support, Social Support, and Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion. ersuasive design techniques can be applied across the factors that influence health workforce capability including health and personal qualities competencies and skills values, attitudes, and motivation and factors that operate outside of work and at the team, organizational, and labor market levels. The majority of the 32 persuasive design techniques were reflected in the data from the interviews and led to recommendations as to how these could be translated into practice, with the exception of scarcity. Many suggestions and persuasive design techniques link back to the need for tailored and localized solutions such as the need for country-specific–based evidence, the wish for localized communities of practice, learning from other rural health professionals, and referral pathways to other clinicians. Participants identified how persuasive design techniques can optimize the user experience to help meet rural health professionals needs for more efficient systems to improve patient access to care, quality care, and to enable working in interprofessional team-based care. Social inclusion plays a vital role for health professionals, indicating the importance of the Social Support domain of persuasive techniques. Overall, health professionals were open to self-monitoring of their work performance and some professionals used wearables to monitor their health. ural health professionals’ perceptions of health workforce capability informed which persuasive design techniques can be used to optimize the user experience of an app. These were translated into recommendations for designing a health workforce capability app to increase likelihood of adoption. This study has also contributed to the further validation of the Persuasive Systems Design model through empirically aligning elements of the model to increase persuasive system content and functionality with real-world applied data, in this case the health workforce capability of rural health professionals. Our findings confirm that these techniques can be used to develop a future prototype of an app that may assist health professionals in improving or maintaining their health workforce capability which in turn may increase recruitment and retention in rural areas. Health professionals need to be central during the design phase. Interventions are needed to provide a supportive environment to rural and remote health professionals to increase their rural health workforce capability.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 07-09-2021
Abstract: here is a need to further investigate how persuasive design principles can change rural health professionals’ behaviors to look after their own health workforce capability. Several theories are used when developing apps to persuade people to change behavior, including the Persuasive System Design Model, consisting of primary task, dialogue, system credibility, and social support categories, and Cialdini’s principles of persuasion. These have not been analyzed yet in the field of health workforce capability. his study aims to determine the persuasive design techniques used in capability building–related apps and to provide recommendations for designing a health workforce app to increase their persuasiveness. Python script was used to extract a total of 3060 apps from Google Play. Keywords centered around health workforce capability elements. App inclusion criteria were as follows: been updated since 2019, rated by users on average 4 and above, and more than 100,000 downloads. Next, 2 experts reviewed whether 32 persuasive strategies were used in the selected apps, and these were further analyzed by capability categories: competencies and skills, health and personal qualities, values and attitudes, and work organization. n all, 53 mobile apps were systematically reviewed to identify the persuasive design techniques. The most common were surface credibility (n=48, 90.6%) and liking (n=48), followed by trustworthiness (n=43, 81.1%), reminders (n=38, 71.7%), and suggestion (n=30, 56.6%). The techniques in the social support domain were the least used across the different apps analyzed for health workforce capability, whereas those in the primary task support domain were used most frequently. The recommendations reflect learnings from our analysis. These findings provided insight into mobile app design principles relevant to apps used in improving health workforce capability. ur review showed that there are many persuasive design techniques that can assist in building health workforce capability. Additionally, several apps are available in the market that can assist in improving health workforce capability. There is, however, a specific lack of digital, real-time support to improve health workforce capability. Social support strategies through using social support persuasive design techniques will need to be integrated more prominently into a health workforce capability app. An app to measure and monitor health workforce capability scores can be used in conjunction with direct real-world person and real-time support to discuss and identify solutions to improve health workforce capability for rural and remote health professionals who are at high risk of burnout or leaving the rural health workforce. >
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 29-04-2021
Abstract: This paper explores the impact of a suite of alcohol culture change interventions implemented by Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. The interventions were designed to change the alcohol culture at a bi-annual nation-wide university multi-sport competition known as Uni Nationals. This study aims to understand the critical success factors of the alcohol culture change initiatives that were developed by the university and implemented as part of a broader set of institutional practices. A qualitative research design utilised in-depth, semi-structured interviews with nine Uni Nationals student team leaders. In total, two group interviews and four in idual interviews were conducted with student team leaders who participated in the Uni Nationals. The interview transcripts were coded and themed. The themes were further refined and interpreted into a narrative. A total of two transcripts were independently coded by the first two authors. Discordant coding was flagged and discussed until a consensus was achieved. The remaining interviews were coded by the first author and discussed with the second author to ensure consistency. A socio-ecological framework was used to understand perceived changes to alcohol culture. Student leaders were aware of and felt supported by the university-wide approach to changing the culture of Uni Nationals. Overall, the qualitative study indicated that students were positive about the alcohol culture change interventions. The leadership training that engaged team leaders in interactive activities had the greatest impact. Student leaders found the targeted messages, mocktail events and Chef de Mission (CdM) less effective cultural change strategies. However, they helped to establish expectations of students in this setting where a heightened focus on sport was associated with higher alcohol consumption. While there has been growing academic interest in exploring “drinking cultures”, there has been relatively little focus on alcohol culture of university students at sporting events. The paper contributes to addressing this gap by shedding light on the impact of a group of interventions on the drinking culture of the Uni Nationals subculture.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 18-02-2022
Abstract: Education, training and continuing professional development are amongst the evidence-based initiatives for attracting and retaining rural and remote health professionals. With rapidly increasing access to and use of digital technology worldwide, there are new opportunities to leverage training and support for those who are working in rural and remote areas. In this paper we determine the key elements associated with the utility of digital technologies to provide education, training, professional learning and support for rural health workforce outside the University and tertiary sector. A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature from Australia, Canada, US and New Zealand was conducted in four bibliographic databases – Medline complete, CINAHL, Academic Search complete and Education Complete. Relevant studies published between January 2010 and September 2020 were identified. The Levac et al . (2010) enhanced methodology of the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework was used to analyse the literature. The literature suggests there is mounting evidence demonstrating the potential for online platforms to address the challenges of rural health professional practice and the tyranny of distance. After analysing 22 publications, seven main themes were found – Knowledge and skills ( n = 13), access ( n = 10), information technology ( n = 7), translation of knowledge into practice ( n = 6), empowerment and confidence ( n = 5), engagement ( n = 5) and the need for support ( n = 5). Ongoing evaluation will be critical to explore new opportunities for digital technology to demonstrate enhanced capability and retention of rural health professionals. To date there has been limited examination of research that addresses the value of digital platforms on continuing professional development, education and support for rural health professionals outside the university and tertiary training sectors.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1177/20552076221089082
Abstract: A high-quality, sustained, health workforce contributes to a healthy population. However, a global reality is that rural health services, and the workforces that provide those services, are under unprecedented pressure. It is posited that improving a rural health practitioners’ capability could help to retain them working rurally for longer. Capability refers to skills and experience and the extent to which in iduals can adapt to change, generate new knowledge and continue to improve their performance. With rapidly increasing access to, and use of, digital technology worldwide, there are new opportunities to build capability and leverage personal and professional support for those who are working rurally. In 2021, semi-structured interviews were conducted in rural Australia with thirteen General Practitioners and allied health professionals. Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data and map it to the Health Information Technology Acceptance Model. Whilst it could be assumed that low technology literacy would act as a barrier to the use of digital tools, the study demonstrated that this was not a significant impediment to participants’ willingness to adopt digital tools when social and professional networks weren't available face to face to address their capability challenges. The findings provide insight into the concept of health workforce capability and important considerations when designing capability support. This includes key features of health apps or digital tools to support the capability of the rural health workforce. Understanding the factors that make up a health professionals’ capability and the motivations or cues to act to build or maintain their capability may have a positive effect on their retention in a rural location.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/AJR.12796
Abstract: To explore how four small towns in rural New South Wales known as the 4Ts are addressing challenges accessing quality care and sustainable health services through a collaborative approach to workforce planning using the collaborative care framework. Descriptive case study approach. The collaborative care project was developed as a result of ongoing partnerships between 2 rural Local Health Districts, 2 Primary Health Networks and a non‐governmental health workforce organisation. The collaboration works with 5 subregions each comprising 2 or more rural communities. This paper focuses on the 4Ts subregion. Stakeholders of the collaborative design including organisations and the community. A place‐based approach to co‐designing health services with community in one sub‐region of Western New South Wales. A synthesis of field observations and experiences of community and jurisdictional partners in implementation of the 4Ts subregional model. Mapping of implementation processes against the collaborative care framework. The collaborative care framework is a useful planning and community engagement tool to build health workforce literacy and to impact on system change at the local level. We identify key elements of effectiveness in establishing the 4Ts model, including the need for coordinated health system planning, better integrating existing resources to deliver services, community engagement, building health workforce literacy and town‐based planning. This study adds to the body of knowledge about how to successfully develop a collaborative primary health care workforce model in practice. The findings demonstrate that the implementation of a collaborative primary health care workforce model using the collaborative care framework can improve service access and quality, which in turn might facilitate workforce sustainability.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 02-05-2022
DOI: 10.2196/35094
Abstract: Health professionals’ perceptions of persuasive design techniques for use in technological solutions to improve health workforce capability have not been previously explored. This study aims to explore rural health professionals’ perceptions of health workforce capability and persuasive design techniques and translate these into recommendations for designing a health workforce capability app to increase their impact and usefulness. Qualitative interviews with 13 rural health professionals were conducted. Subsequently, 32 persuasive techniques were used as a framework to deductively analyze the data. Persuasive design technique domains were Primary Task Support, Dialog Support, System Credibility Support, Social Support, and Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion. Persuasive design techniques can be applied across the factors that influence health workforce capability including health and personal qualities competencies and skills values, attitudes, and motivation and factors that operate outside of work and at the team, organizational, and labor market levels. The majority of the 32 persuasive design techniques were reflected in the data from the interviews and led to recommendations as to how these could be translated into practice, with the exception of scarcity. Many suggestions and persuasive design techniques link back to the need for tailored and localized solutions such as the need for country-specific–based evidence, the wish for localized communities of practice, learning from other rural health professionals, and referral pathways to other clinicians. Participants identified how persuasive design techniques can optimize the user experience to help meet rural health professionals needs for more efficient systems to improve patient access to care, quality care, and to enable working in interprofessional team-based care. Social inclusion plays a vital role for health professionals, indicating the importance of the Social Support domain of persuasive techniques. Overall, health professionals were open to self-monitoring of their work performance and some professionals used wearables to monitor their health. Rural health professionals’ perceptions of health workforce capability informed which persuasive design techniques can be used to optimize the user experience of an app. These were translated into recommendations for designing a health workforce capability app to increase likelihood of adoption. This study has also contributed to the further validation of the Persuasive Systems Design model through empirically aligning elements of the model to increase persuasive system content and functionality with real-world applied data, in this case the health workforce capability of rural health professionals. Our findings confirm that these techniques can be used to develop a future prototype of an app that may assist health professionals in improving or maintaining their health workforce capability which in turn may increase recruitment and retention in rural areas. Health professionals need to be central during the design phase. Interventions are needed to provide a supportive environment to rural and remote health professionals to increase their rural health workforce capability.
No related grants have been discovered for Robyn Ramsden.