Creating Rural Allied Health Leadership Structures Using District Advisors: An Action Research Project Using Program...

District advisors in five allied health disciplines were introduced in a local health district in rural Australia in 2013. These strategic leadership roles provide support to clinicians and managers. As there is little research exploring allied health leadership models from a strategic and operational perspective, the coordinated commencement of these roles provided opportunity to study the creation of this leadership structure.

Four advisors participated in this action research study which used focus groups and program logic processes to explore the inputs, outputs, barriers, outcomes to date, and preferred future outcomes of the leadership model. A purpose-built questionnaire was sent to 134 allied health clinicians or managers with questionnaire responses used by advisors to visualise the leadership model.

Advisors prioritised policy development, representing the profession outside the organisation, and supporting department managers, whilst clinicians prioritised communication and connection-building within the organisation. Outcomes of the leadership model included connection, coordination, and advocacy for clinicians. Future preferred outcomes included increased strategic and workforce planning. Barriers included limited time, a widespread workforce and limited resourcing.

Instituting a leadership model improved communication, cohesion, and coordination within the organisation. Future increases in workforce planning and coordination are limited by advisor capacity and competing workloads.