A dynamic multi-professional needs-based simulation model to inform human resources for health planning

摘要

BackgroundAs population health needs become more complex, addressing those needs increasingly requires the knowledge, skills, and judgment of multiple types of human resources for health (HRH) working interdependently. A growing emphasis on team-delivered health care is evident in several jurisdictions, including those in Canada. However, the most commonly used HRH planning models across Canada and other countries lack the capacity to plan for more than one type of HRH in an integrated manner. The purpose of this paper is to present a dynamic, multi-professional, needs-based simulation model to inform HRH planning and demonstrate the importance of two of its parameters—division of work and clinical focus—which have received comparatively little attention in HRH research to date.