Regional health human resources planning & management : policies, issues and information requirements

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Regional health human resources planning & management : policies, issues and information requirements Kazanjian, Arminée, 1947-; Hebert, Marilynne; Wood, Laura Christine, 1955-; Rahim-Jamal, Sherin, 1963-

Abstract

The purpose of health human resources management and planning activities is to identify and achieve the optimal number, mix and distribution of personnel, at a cost society is able to afford. It is not simply establishing the required number of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, or technologists, etc.; it is establishing the numbers in each of these and other groups, given the most cost-effective and appropriate mix of required personnel and their equitable geographic distribution based on varying service needs. Therefore, the determination of the depth and breadth of information required to facilitate such health human resources management and planning activities is complex. Consequently, the information requirements associated with health human resources planning have been erroneously identified with the planning itself, in the form of simple counting of supply, or, at best, the estimation of workforce requirements based on some arbitrary population:personnel ratio. A needs-based approach to health human resources planning draws on techniques that assess the prevalence of diseases and the burden of illness in a target population. Health deficits can be translated into health care services or task requirements. Alternative mixes of inputs (human and non-human) can be identified, based on evidence of effectiveness and the social context, to meet these task requirements. A comparison of human resources requirements against currently available skills would determine net requirements. Different planning activities can be considered when an imbalance is indicated.

Item Metadata

Title	Regional health human resources planning & management : policies, issues and information requirements
Alternate Title	HHRU 99:1
Creator	Kazanjian, Arminée, 1947-; Hebert, Marilynne; Wood, Laura Christine, 1955-; Rahim-Jamal, Sherin, 1963-
Contributor	University of British Columbia. Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
Publisher	Health Human Resources Unit (HHRU)
Date Issued	1999-01
Description	The purpose of health human resources management and planning activities is to identify and achieve the optimal number, mix and distribution of personnel, at a cost society is able to afford. It is not simply establishing the required number of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, or technologists, etc.; it is establishing the numbers in each of these and other groups, given the most cost-effective and appropriate mix of required personnel and their equitable geographic distribution based on varying service needs. Therefore, the determination of the depth and breadth of information required to facilitate such health human resources management and planning activities is complex. Consequently, the information requirements associated with health human resources planning have been erroneously identified with the planning itself, in the form of simple counting of supply, or, at best, the estimation of workforce requirements based on some arbitrary population:personnel ratio. A needs-based approach to health human resources planning draws on techniques that assess the prevalence of diseases and the burden of illness in a target population. Health deficits can be translated into health care services or task requirements. Alternative mixes of inputs (human and non-human) can be identified, based on evidence of effectiveness and the social context, to meet these task requirements. A comparison of human resources requirements against currently available skills would determine net requirements. Different planning activities can be considered when an imbalance is indicated.
Subject	Health human resources; Health Manpower--British Columbia; Personnel Management--British Columbia; Regional Health Planning--organization & administration--British Columbia; Medical personnel--Supply and demand--British Columbia
Genre	Report
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2014-08-25
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada
DOI	10.14288/1.0075938
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/50149
Affiliation	Health Care and Epidemiology, Department of; Medicine, Faculty of; Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of
Peer Review Status	Unreviewed
Scholarly Level	Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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