Birth doulas, who support pregnant women during the perinatal period, have positive impacts on pregnancy and birth outcomes, particularly among underserved populations. However, health workforce-related barriers challenge the development of robust doula services in the United States. This article examines various approaches to train, recruit, and employ doulas, as well as what system-level changes are…
The State Health Workforce Data Collection Inventory describes findings from a survey about data collection on health workforce supply (eg, demographic, education, and practice characteristics of health professionals), demand (eg, vacancies and employer recruitment and retention difficulties), and the education pipeline (eg, graduation rates and trainee/graduate characteristics). The data collection survey is ongoing and the…
Dental therapy is a workforce model that introduces mid-level practitioners—dental therapists—with both preventive and restorative skills. The introduction of dental therapists appears to improve access to and equity in dental service delivery in the US. The Oral Health Workforce Research Center conducted a study that evaluated the satisfaction of clinical providers, organizational administrators, and patients…
Post graduate dental (PGD) training has increased 27% over the last decade (2009-2019). More than 75% of this increase was due to the growth of primary care training. Despite this increase, little is known about factors associated with the pursuit of PGD training and whether or not they vary between different dental specialty fields. There…
Assessing the distribution and organization of the dental workforce is critical to understand how to address poor access to dental care for lower income families. The US currenly lacks a significant supply of dentists who accept Medicaid, or will work in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which impacts communities of color and disabled individuals. There…
Research has shown evidence of doulas’ positive impacts on maternal health outcomes, particularly among underserved populations. Such research supports expanding access to doula services. However, health workforce-related barriers challenge the development of robust doula services in the US. This article published in the Journal of Perinatal Education investigates organizations’ barriers regarding training, recruitment, and employment of doulas….
To meet growing demand, address social determinants of health, and improve health equity, a larger and more diverse registered nurse (RN) workforce is needed in the US. To do so, it is important to understand current pathways and barriers to becoming an RN. This article published in Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice examines prior health…
There are currently no federal standards to evaluate the adequacy of personal care aides based on the demand for home and community based services in the US, but past research has indicated long-term shortages in the personal care aide workforce. Not much is known about how these shortages differ across geographic regions. This Health Affairs…
Health researchers view social determinants of health as one of the underlying causes of health inequities in the United States. There has been an increasing demand for health professionals to become more educated about the role of social determinants of health—one strategy that addresses this is experiential education programs as part of health professions training….
Telehealth use increased steadily in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic but underserved populations were among the least likely to use telehealth compared with affluent, privately insured populations. While recent studies have documented rapid growth in telehealth visits during the pandemic, none have analyzed the impact of telehealth on access to care. This…
