. 2018 Jun 20;16(1):52.

doi: 10.1186/s12961-018-0333-x.

A call for action to establish a research agenda for building a future health workforce in Europe

Ellen Kuhlmann^{1

2}, Ronald Batenburg³, Matthias Wismar⁴, Gilles Dussault⁵, Claudia B Maier⁶, Irene A Glinos⁴, Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat^{7

8}, Christine Bond⁹, Viola Burau¹⁰, Tiago Correia¹¹, Peter P Groenewegen^{3

12

13}, Johan Hansen³, David J Hunter¹⁴, Usman Khan¹⁵, Hans H Kluge¹⁶, Marieke Kroezen¹⁷, Claudia Leone¹⁸, Milena Santric-Milicevic¹⁹, Walter Sermeus²⁰, Marius Ungureanu²¹

Affiliations

¹ Institut für Epidemiologie, Sozialmedizin und Gesundheitssystemforschung, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, OE 5410, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. kuhlmann.ellen@mh-hannover.de.
² Karolinska Institutet, Medical Management Centre, LIME, Tomtebodavagen 18a, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. kuhlmann.ellen@mh-hannover.de.
³ Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Otterstraat 118-124, 3513, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁴ European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Place Victor Horta/Victor Hortaplein, 40/10, 1060, Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
⁵ Global Health and Tropical Medicine & WHO Collaborating Center on Health Workforce Policy and Planning, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine-NOVA University of Lisbon, Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁶ Department of Healthcare Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Department of Health Services Management, Faculty of Health Science & WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Systems and Policy in Small States at the Islands and Small States Institute, University of Malta, Msida, MSD, 2080, Malta.
⁸ European Public Health Association (EUPHA), Utrecht, Netherlands.
⁹ Christine Bond, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 ZD, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ Department of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
¹¹ ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, School of Sociology and Public Policies, Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1649-026, Lisbon, Portugal.
¹² Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584, CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Human Geography, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584, CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
¹⁴ Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom.
¹⁵ European Health Management Association (EHMA), Rue Belliard 15-17, 1040, Brussels, Belgium.
¹⁶ Division of Health Systems and Public Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Marmorvej 51, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁷ Department of General Practice, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College London, 57 Waterloo Road, SE1 8WA, London, United Kingdom.
¹⁹ Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, Dr Subotica, Belgrade, 15 11000, Serbia.
²⁰ KU Leuven Institute for Healthcare Policy, Kapucijnenvoer 35 blok d - box 7001, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
²¹ Department of Public Health, College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, 7 Pandurilor Street, 400376, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

PMID: 29925432
PMCID: PMC6011393
DOI: 10.1186/s12961-018-0333-x

A call for action to establish a research agenda for building a future health workforce in Europe

Ellen Kuhlmann et al. Health Res Policy Syst. 2018.

. 2018 Jun 20;16(1):52.

doi: 10.1186/s12961-018-0333-x.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institut für Epidemiologie, Sozialmedizin und Gesundheitssystemforschung, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, OE 5410, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. kuhlmann.ellen@mh-hannover.de.
² Karolinska Institutet, Medical Management Centre, LIME, Tomtebodavagen 18a, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. kuhlmann.ellen@mh-hannover.de.
³ Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Otterstraat 118-124, 3513, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁴ European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Place Victor Horta/Victor Hortaplein, 40/10, 1060, Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
⁵ Global Health and Tropical Medicine & WHO Collaborating Center on Health Workforce Policy and Planning, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine-NOVA University of Lisbon, Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁶ Department of Healthcare Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Department of Health Services Management, Faculty of Health Science & WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Systems and Policy in Small States at the Islands and Small States Institute, University of Malta, Msida, MSD, 2080, Malta.
⁸ European Public Health Association (EUPHA), Utrecht, Netherlands.
⁹ Christine Bond, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 ZD, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ Department of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
¹¹ ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, School of Sociology and Public Policies, Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1649-026, Lisbon, Portugal.
¹² Department of Sociology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584, CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Human Geography, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584, CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
¹⁴ Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom.
¹⁵ European Health Management Association (EHMA), Rue Belliard 15-17, 1040, Brussels, Belgium.
¹⁶ Division of Health Systems and Public Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Marmorvej 51, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁷ Department of General Practice, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, Wytemaweg 80, 3015, CN, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College London, 57 Waterloo Road, SE1 8WA, London, United Kingdom.
¹⁹ Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, Dr Subotica, Belgrade, 15 11000, Serbia.
²⁰ KU Leuven Institute for Healthcare Policy, Kapucijnenvoer 35 blok d - box 7001, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
²¹ Department of Public Health, College of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, 7 Pandurilor Street, 400376, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

PMID: 29925432
PMCID: PMC6011393
DOI: 10.1186/s12961-018-0333-x

Abstract

The importance of a sustainable health workforce is increasingly recognised. However, the building of a future health workforce that is responsive to diverse population needs and demographic and economic change remains insufficiently understood. There is a compelling argument to be made for a comprehensive research agenda to address the questions. With a focus on Europe and taking a health systems approach, we introduce an agenda linked to the 'Health Workforce Research' section of the European Public Health Association. Six major objectives for health workforce policy were identified: (1) to develop frameworks that align health systems/governance and health workforce policy/planning, (2) to explore the effects of changing skill mixes and competencies across sectors and occupational groups, (3) to map how education and health workforce governance can be better integrated, (4) to analyse the impact of health workforce mobility on health systems, (5) to optimise the use of international/EU, national and regional health workforce data and monitoring and (6) to build capacity for policy implementation. This article highlights critical knowledge gaps that currently hamper the opportunities of effectively responding to these challenges and advising policy-makers in different health systems. Closing these knowledge gaps is therefore an important step towards future health workforce governance and policy implementation. There is an urgent need for building health workforce research as an independent, interdisciplinary and multi-professional field. This requires dedicated research funding, new academic education programmes, comparative methodology and knowledge transfer and leadership that can help countries to build a people-centred health workforce.

Keywords: Europe; Health professions; Health workforce governance; Health workforce mobility; Health workforce policy; Health workforce research; Human resources for health; Integrated care; Skill mixes.

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Conflict of interest statement

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Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

All authors declare that they have no competing interests. NAM is President of EUPHA, MW is a senior policy analyst and IAG is a researcher at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. UK is Director of the European Health Management Association and HHK is Director of the Division of Health Systems and Public Health, WHO Regional Office for Europe.

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References

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A call for action to establish a research agenda for building a future health workforce in Europe

Affiliations

A call for action to establish a research agenda for building a future health workforce in Europe

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Consent for publication

Competing interests

Publisher’s Note

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Miscellaneous