Third ISA Forum of Sociology (July 10-14, 2016)

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The Future Heath Workforce We Need: Professions, Policy and Planning. Part I

RC15 Sociology of Health (host committee)
RC52 Sociology of Professional Groups

Language: English

Health workers are crucial for better healthcare for all people, but available data highlight a widening gap in future health human resources as well as alarming imbalances in the skills and the geographical distribution of health professionals. Imbalances exist within professional groups, sectors, and healthcare systems as well as between them. 
Here globalization and austerity politics have increased the inequality in health human resources, and this in turn calls for new approaches to health workforce policy and governance both locally and globally. Most recently, the Ebola crisis has dramatically revealed the importance of health professionals and the need for a global approach to workforce planning, but there are also alarming imbalances in certain areas of resource-rich countries. Added to this, there is a growing demand for new forms of professionalism that are better able to integrate complex caring demands of the citizens, skill-mixes, and the competencies of professionals with diverse social backgrounds, including gender, ethnicity and age. 
This Joint Session of RC15 and RC52 seeks to highlight the need for multi-level governance and research and to further comparative approaches. We invite papers that address a range of dimensions, levels and areas of health workforce issues, including healthcare policy, planning and management as well as migration, mobility and gender equality either in one country or in comparative perspective. Posters: