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Impact of a five‐day short course on integration of health promotion into practice in north Queensland
Author(s) -
Devine Susan G,
LlewellynJones Lorraine,
Llyod Jacqui
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he09069
Subject(s) - health promotion , workforce , promotion (chess) , enthusiasm , population health , medicine , medical education , health economics , nursing , work (physics) , workplace health promotion , phone , public relations , public health , psychology , engineering , political science , social psychology , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , politics , law
Issue addressed Workforce development is one element of health promotion capacity building. This paper describes the extent to which participants in a five‐day short course in health promotion, delivered three times in north Queensland during 2007, reported greater adoption of health promotion within their work roles, and the factors that affected the level of adoption. Methods Out of 54 course attendees, 39 completed a post‐course survey five to nine months after completing the course (72% response rate). Additionally, 11 course attendees participated in a focus group or phone interview to explore survey findings. Results The courses succeeded in providing knowledge, skills, confidence and enthusiasm to undertake health promotion work. Eighty per cent of participants stated they had incorporated health promotion into their work frequently or all of the time since undertaking the course. Lack of understanding of health promotion from co‐workers and managers, lack of organisational support and commitment, lack of resources, competing clinical priorities, and lack of time were cited as the main barriers for undertaking health promotion. Conclusions The course met participant training needs. However, similar training across all levels of staff including management may help to develop organisational capacity, thereby building a more knowledgeable workforce that is supported to undertake health promotion as a core part of an organisation's business. So what? There is strong support for workforce development in health promotion in north Queensland. Short courses are one way to achieve this. However, shifting health service delivery to a more upstream approach requires broader capacity building within health services and systems including leadership, partnerships, resource allocation and organisational development.