Building a Rural and Remote Allied Health Assistant Workforce

In this one-hour webinar, Shem Appleton (Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health, or 'SARRAH') shared practical strategies for developing Allied Health Assistant (AHA) roles in rural and remote areas, including the ways in which SARRAH has successfully incorporated AHAs into workforce models to expand access to care for rural and isolated communities. Shem shared the steps that SARRAH recommends for workforce planning, role design and clinical governance, providing some key starting points for anyone considering establishing or developing a rural or remote AHA workforce. A key focus of the presentation was on the materials developed as part of SARRAH’s Building the Rural and Remote Allied Health Assistant workforce (BRAHAW) program, focused on supporting rural and remote organisations in building AHA workforces. The webinar examined how organisations can be supported and guided in effectively designing and implementing AHA roles. Case studies were used to demonstrate different approaches rural clinics are already adopting to leverage AHAs through remote supervision and skills optimisation, exemplifying the diverse needs of Allied Health organisations and the communities they serve. The webinar will empower Allied Health organisations to build capacity by sharing proven methods for overcoming geographic barriers through assistant-enabled models of care. Key webinar takeaways included: - Ways of working with AHAs rurally and remotely - The role of AHAs in telehealth - Building an AHA workforce: Where to start