Workforce Planning for Community-Based Palliative Care Specialist Teams Using Operations Research.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Services Research
• Operations Research

Background:

• Globally aging populations are increasing the demand for palliative care services.
• Current methods for estimating specialist palliative care team staffing are insufficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a workforce planning model for community-based specialist palliative care teams.
• To forecast staffing needs over 20 years, considering primary palliative care expansion.

Main Methods:

• Utilized operations research, specifically linear programming, for workforce modeling.
• Applied the model within the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians framework and Nova Scotia's strategy.

Main Results:

• In 2019, Nova Scotia required an estimated 106.3 specialist palliative care staff (70.8 nurses, 23.6 physicians, 11.9 social workers).
• A 64% immediate increase in staff is needed, with an additional 13.1% projected over 20 years.
• Expanded primary palliative care could meet 20.3% of need by 2038, up from 3.7% currently.

Conclusions:

• Operations research provides a robust method for forecasting palliative care staffing needs.
• The model can be adapted for different populations and to evaluate alternative care delivery models.
• Accurate workforce planning is crucial to meet the growing demand for palliative care.