The public health landscape in Canada is being
influenced by an increased focus on a critical
need—the need to ensure an effective, responsive
and sustainable approach to health human resource
planning.
The concept of properly planning, producing and
managing a country’s health human resources
is not new. For decades, numerous reports from
various provinces, countries and the World Health
Organization stressed the need to undertake country-wide
and health system-wide reviews of how health human
resources are selected, trained and managed to
ensure that health goals can be achieved. Since
our definition of health itself and our understanding
of what determines health has evolved conceptually,
many jurisdictions find themselves behind in strategically
thinking through and implementing health human
resource plans to keep pace. Bureaucracies are
large, political winds shift, and change –
by nature often threatening - can be difficult
to implement in all sectors.
As is often the case, however, the lightning
rod for Canada’s high-profile shift toward
focusing on public health human resource planning
in this country can be traced to the compound
effect of several significant crises in confidence
about our public health infrastructure, ranging
from the tainted blood scandal and the Walkerton
(Ontario) and North Battleford (Saskatchewan)
cases, to the threats of West Nile virus, avian
flu and SARS.
In fact, the seminal report Learning from
SARS: Renewal of Public Health in Canada (A report
of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and
Public Health October 2003) crystallized
the link between public health status for Canadians
and human resource planning in stating: “No
attempt to improve public health will succeed
that does not recognize the fundamental importance
of providing and maintaining in every local health
agency across Canada an adequate staff of highly
skilled and motivated public health professionals.
Our national aim should be to produce a cadre
of outstanding public health professionals who
are adequately qualified and compensated, and
who have clear roles, responsibilities and career
paths.”
In the wake of SARS, there was a widespread public
and political recognition of the sobering reality
that Canada’s public health system was only
as strong as its weakest link. This led to a 2004
Ministers of Health commitment to support a 10-year
action plan to strengthen the public health system.
The establishment of the Public Health Agency
of Canada, with a significant mandate in the area
of health human resource planning, was yet another
signal of the momentum for public health workforce
planning. The Agency is working on providing support
to the Pan-Canadian Framework for Public Health
Human Resources Planning. The focus is on fostering
a collaborative approach to public health human
resource planning. Confirmed by international
best practices in countries such as the United
States, the United Kingdom and Australia, there
is recognition that effective workforce planning
must be designed to respect and enhance the interprofessional
nature of public health work.
The challenge of shifting toward this collaborative
model is significant. While the practice of public
health is highly inter-professional, planning
and training in this area has historically been
discipline specific. To introduce this approach
successfully will require a careful communication
and change management plan that focuses on the
benefits of a collaborative system for public
health human resource planning—benefits
for practitioners, for citizens and for policy
makers.
The evolution toward a collaborative approach
to public health human resource planning has fuelled
the move toward a core competency model. This
client-centered approach stems from realizing
that positive health outcomes often result from
effective collaboration among and between practitioners
in Canada’s public health professional communities.
As such, focusing on the skills, knowledge and
abilities required to maintain and promote public
health, irrespective of professional designation,
is essential to ensuring that Canada is equipped
with a strong workforce of public health professionals.
The case for core competency becomes even more
compelling because of the significant challenges
associated with recruiting and retaining public
health talent, particularly in under-serviced
areas. A pan-Canadian approach makes sense, not
only for citizens but also for practitioners,
who benefit from more opportunity and career mobility.
In a very real way, this is a new beginning in
health systems planning in this country. We are
finally beginning to recognize the role played
by a now much broader range of workers in promoting
and protecting the health of Canadians. The formal
core competency work that the more traditionally
recognized health disciplines are carrying out
is critical in helping to guide the work of others.
Throughout, strategic and clear communications
planning will remain the key to limiting any duplication
of efforts.
As a consulting firm with both conceptual knowledge
and practical experience that can be leveraged
to help disciplines work toward strategically
planning and, just as importantly, communicating
their work on core competencies, The Alder Group
is proud and excited to be able to build on past
successes and continue to contribute to ongoing
work in the area of health human resource development.
The Alder Group's depth of expertise was acknowledged last October as Brian Hyndman’s informative paper Towards the Development of Canadian Health Promotion Competencies: Where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going was published in the Ontario Health Promotion E-Bulletin.
Other assignments carried out by The Alder Group relevant
to health human resource core competencies include
the following:
Strategic Communications Plan
for the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors
In partnership with Ingenium Communications, The Alder Group
carried out the development of a high impact,
results-based strategic communications strategy
on Core Competencies for the Canadian Institute
of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI). This collaborative
project included extensive research on core competency
best practices, key informant interviews, international
benchmarking, a facilitated workshop based on
Ingenium's Results Map methodology, and strategy
report writing.
Competencies for Health Promotion
Practitioners in Canada
Health Promotion Ontario (HPO), the association
representing the collective interests of health
promoters working at Ontario public health units,
hired The Alder Group to develop a set of competencies
for health promotion practitioners in Canada.
This is one of seven discipline-specific competency
development initiatives funded by the Public Health
Agency of Canada.
A proposed set of competencies was presented
at the HPO conference in May 2007. The competencies
were also presented at a workshop held at the
International Union for Health Promotion and Education
(IUHPE) conference in Vancouver in June 2007.
In addition, an e-survey has been developed to
gather feedback on the competencies from health
promoters across Canada.
Pan-Canadian Core Competencies
Consultation Plan
The Alder Group developed a national consultation
work plan on public health core competencies for
the Public Health Agency of Canada. This work
plan was instrumental in guiding the management
of a pan-Canadian strategy and has been used to
guide a range of initiatives over the last two
years. The Alder Group also planned a website
to serve as a communications hub for a broad consultation
process, developed a list of references and background
materials, and researched and wrote a glossary
of terms and a list of frequently asked questions.
Public Health Core Competency Literature
Review
The Alder Group conducted a literature review
of existing core competency work, developed a
communications strategy and planned, facilitated
and provided a detailed meeting report of the
proceedings of a meeting for the Core Competencies
Task Group—Ontario Public Health Association,
the Public Health Research, Education and Development
Division (PHRED) at the Sudbury and District Health
Unit and other key stakeholders.
Planning and Facilitation Services
for Core Competency Meetings
The Alder Group provided facilitation, rapporteur
services and logistics services for two core competency
meetings for the Ontario Public Health Association.
The first meeting, hosted by the Association in
2005, was intended to provide guidance and direction
for the Public Health Research, Education and
Development Division in the creation of the companion
document to the technical document The Development
of a Draft Set of Public Health Workforce Core
Competencies. The Alder Group wrote the final
meeting report that helped guide the direction
of the companion document. In 2006, the participants
reconvened to review the companion document discussion
paper.
Facilitation and Rapporteur Services
for Core Competency Meeting
The Alder Group facilitated and provided rapporteur
services for a meeting of the Core Competencies
Task Group in Toronto in January 2007, the purpose
of which was to provide the Public Health Agency
of Canada, Core Competencies and Skills Enhancement
Programs, and the Ontario Public Health Association
with a refined and prioritized set of recommendations
for the training and continuing education of public
health professionals.
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