Emergency responses for a health workforce under pressure: Lessons learned from system responses to the first wave of the pandemic in Canada.
Int J Health Plann Manage
; 39(3): 906-916, 2024 May.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38369691
ABSTRACT
The global health workforce crisis, simmering for decades, was brought to a rolling boil by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. With scarce literature, evidence, or best practices to draw from, countries around the world moved to flex their workforces to meet acute challenges of the pandemic, facing demands related to patient volume, patient acuity, and worker vulnerability and absenteeism. One early hypothesis suggested that the acute, short-term pandemic phase would be followed by several waves of resource demands extending over the longer term. However, as the acute phase of the pandemic abated, temporary workforce policies expired and others were repealed with a view of returning to 'normal'. The workforce needs of subsequent phases of pandemic effects were largely ignored despite our new equilibrium resting nowhere near our pre-COVID baseline. In this paper, we describe Canada's early pandemic workforce response. We report the results of an environmental scan of the early workforce strategies adopted in Canada during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within an expanded three-part conceptual framework for supporting a sustainable health workforce, we describe 470 strategies and policies that aimed to increase the numbers and flexibility of health workers in Canada, and to maximise their continued availability to work. These strategies targeted all types of health workers and roles, enabling changes to the places health work is done, the way in which care is delivered, and the mechanisms by which it is regulated. Telehealth strategies and virtual care were the most prevalent, followed by role expansion, licensure flexibility, mental health supports for workers, and return to practice of retirees. We explore the degree to which these short-term, acute response strategies might be adapted or extended to support the evolving workforce's long-term needs.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Pandemias
/
COVID-19
/
Fuerza Laboral en Salud
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Health Plann Manage
Asunto de la revista:
PESQUISA EM SERVICOS DE SAUDE
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá