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Dynamic boundaries in the healthcare workforce

Dynamic boundaries in the healthcare workforce
Dynamic boundaries in the healthcare workforce
The healthcare professions have never been static in terms of their own disciplinary boundaries, nor in their role or status in society. Healthcare provision has been defined by changing societal expectations and beliefs, new ways of perceiving health and illness, the introduction of a range of technologies and, more recently, the formal recognition of particular groups through the introduction of education and regulation. It has also been shaped by both inter-professional and profession-state relationships forged over time. A number of factors have converged that place new pressures on workforce boundaries, including an unmet demand for some healthcare services; neo-liberal management philosophies and a greater emphasis on consumer preferences than professional-led services. To date, however, there has been little analysis of the evolution of the workforce as a whole. The discussion of workforce change that has taken place has largely been from the perspective of individual disciplines. Yet the dynamic boundaries of each discipline mean that there is an interrelationship between the components of the workforce that cannot be ignored. The purpose of this paper is to describe four directions in which the existing workforce can change: diversification; specialisation and vertical and horizontal substitution, and to discuss the implications of these changes for the workforce.
health
0141-9889
897-919
Nancarrow, Susan A.
b65c3631-5d59-4d4a-8aee-2f570a4b3b20
Borthwick, Alan M.
b4d1fa51-182d-4296-b5fe-5b7c32ef6f9d
Nancarrow, Susan A.
b65c3631-5d59-4d4a-8aee-2f570a4b3b20
Borthwick, Alan M.
b4d1fa51-182d-4296-b5fe-5b7c32ef6f9d

Nancarrow, Susan A. and Borthwick, Alan M. (2005) Dynamic boundaries in the healthcare workforce. Sociology of Health and Illness, 27 (7), 897-919. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2005.00463.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The healthcare professions have never been static in terms of their own disciplinary boundaries, nor in their role or status in society. Healthcare provision has been defined by changing societal expectations and beliefs, new ways of perceiving health and illness, the introduction of a range of technologies and, more recently, the formal recognition of particular groups through the introduction of education and regulation. It has also been shaped by both inter-professional and profession-state relationships forged over time. A number of factors have converged that place new pressures on workforce boundaries, including an unmet demand for some healthcare services; neo-liberal management philosophies and a greater emphasis on consumer preferences than professional-led services. To date, however, there has been little analysis of the evolution of the workforce as a whole. The discussion of workforce change that has taken place has largely been from the perspective of individual disciplines. Yet the dynamic boundaries of each discipline mean that there is an interrelationship between the components of the workforce that cannot be ignored. The purpose of this paper is to describe four directions in which the existing workforce can change: diversification; specialisation and vertical and horizontal substitution, and to discuss the implications of these changes for the workforce.

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Published date: 2005
Keywords: health

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 17992
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/17992
ISSN: 0141-9889
PURE UUID: 22d0b08d-b6a5-495a-a674-19a270447e14

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Date deposited: 31 Jan 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:02

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Contributors

Author: Susan A. Nancarrow
Author: Alan M. Borthwick

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