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ISSUES AFFECTING AUSTRALIA’S RURAL OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY WORKFORCE
Author(s) -
Millsteed Jeannine
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
australian journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1584
pISSN - 1038-5282
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1584.2000.00245.x
Subject(s) - workforce , restructuring , occupational therapy , immigration , population , distribution (mathematics) , rural area , business , demographic economics , labour economics , psychology , medicine , economic growth , geography , economics , environmental health , physical therapy , finance , mathematical analysis , pathology , mathematics , archaeology
The unequal distribution of health workers across Australia in favour of urban areas affects the provision of effective health services to rural and remote communities. Additional pressures on the current and future supply of occupational therapists may arise from a restructuring of the health labour force and demographic changes in the age structure of the population. Projections made on the basis of these data indicate that employment growth for occupational therapists will create a demand for 9600 therapists in 2005, or 79.9% more than the number of occupational therapists employed in 1994. Factors such as reductions in the level of immigration and the number of people of working age, and a diminishing population of school leavers to fill student places in universities will make it difficult to meet the projected demand for occupational therapists. Occupational therapy labour force planning suffers from a lack of detailed data on under‐serviced areas. Such data are critical for clarifying the magnitude of the projected discrepancy between future demand and supply needs for occupational therapists in rural and urban areas in Australia.