Health workforce demography: a framework to improve understanding of the health workforce and support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
Health workforce demography: a framework to improve understanding of the health workforce and support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
The ambition of universal health coverage entails estimation of the number, type and distribution of health workers required to meet the population need for health services. The demography of the population, including anticipated or estimated changes, is a factor in determining the 'universal' needs for health and well-being. Demography is concerned with the size, breakdown, age and gender structure and dynamics of a population. The same science, and its robust methodologies, is equally applicable to the demography of the health workforce itself. For example, a large percentage of the workforce close to retirement will impact availability, a geographically mobile workforce has implications for health coverage, and gender distribution in occupations may have implications for workforce acceptability and equity of opportunity. In a world with an overall shortage of health workers, and the expectation of increasing need as a result of both population growth in the global south and population ageing in the global north, studying and understanding demographic characteristics of the workforce can help with future planning. This paper discusses the dimensions of health worker demography and considers how demographic tools and techniques can be applied to the analysis of the health labour market. A conceptual framework is introduced as a step towards the application of demographic principles and techniques to health workforce analysis and planning exercises as countries work towards universal health coverage, the reduction of inequities and national development targets. Some illustrative data from Nepal and Finland are shown to illustrate the potential of this framework as a simple and effective contribution to health workforce planning.
Demand for health care, Demography, Finland, Health needs, Health workforce planning, Human resources for health, Nepal
Szabo, Sylvia
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Nove, Andrea
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Matthews, Zoë
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Bajracharya, Ashish
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Dhillon, Ibadat
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Singh, Devendra Raj
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Saares, Aurora
559fddce-e073-4b25-982a-460760d44298
Campbell, James
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29 January 2020
Szabo, Sylvia
01d6bb83-2775-4470-aa2b-b6afbf936187
Nove, Andrea
91c50c0f-ae3d-482f-b5f0-f981d703c0fe
Matthews, Zoë
ebaee878-8cb8-415f-8aa1-3af2c3856f55
Bajracharya, Ashish
bb7c8bb0-2639-4123-982b-35a38919d7b6
Dhillon, Ibadat
d3faba5d-e0ad-4c88-b58e-11950f7917b8
Singh, Devendra Raj
f22ac767-000f-49b6-86a0-c3c685de5aeb
Saares, Aurora
559fddce-e073-4b25-982a-460760d44298
Campbell, James
62f4ea7b-70f2-4834-8b3f-fb5751cc5dce
Szabo, Sylvia, Nove, Andrea, Matthews, Zoë, Bajracharya, Ashish, Dhillon, Ibadat, Singh, Devendra Raj, Saares, Aurora and Campbell, James
(2020)
Health workforce demography: a framework to improve understanding of the health workforce and support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Human Resources for Health, 18 (1), [7].
(doi:10.1186/s12960-020-0445-6).
Abstract
The ambition of universal health coverage entails estimation of the number, type and distribution of health workers required to meet the population need for health services. The demography of the population, including anticipated or estimated changes, is a factor in determining the 'universal' needs for health and well-being. Demography is concerned with the size, breakdown, age and gender structure and dynamics of a population. The same science, and its robust methodologies, is equally applicable to the demography of the health workforce itself. For example, a large percentage of the workforce close to retirement will impact availability, a geographically mobile workforce has implications for health coverage, and gender distribution in occupations may have implications for workforce acceptability and equity of opportunity. In a world with an overall shortage of health workers, and the expectation of increasing need as a result of both population growth in the global south and population ageing in the global north, studying and understanding demographic characteristics of the workforce can help with future planning. This paper discusses the dimensions of health worker demography and considers how demographic tools and techniques can be applied to the analysis of the health labour market. A conceptual framework is introduced as a step towards the application of demographic principles and techniques to health workforce analysis and planning exercises as countries work towards universal health coverage, the reduction of inequities and national development targets. Some illustrative data from Nepal and Finland are shown to illustrate the potential of this framework as a simple and effective contribution to health workforce planning.
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HWD paper final
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Health workforce demography
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 January 2020
Published date: 29 January 2020
Keywords:
Demand for health care, Demography, Finland, Health needs, Health workforce planning, Human resources for health, Nepal
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Local EPrints ID: 438056
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/438056
ISSN: 1478-4491
PURE UUID: 873a4ddc-38a7-4758-bbee-44c66ac219b7
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Date deposited: 27 Feb 2020 17:30
Last modified: 30 Oct 2023 02:36
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Author:
Sylvia Szabo
Author:
Andrea Nove
Author:
Ashish Bajracharya
Author:
Ibadat Dhillon
Author:
Devendra Raj Singh
Author:
Aurora Saares
Author:
James Campbell
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