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Community Health Worker National Workforce Study A national study was conducted under a two-year contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Professions, Evaluation and Analysis Branch. The study has been made available by the U.S. Government at the HRSA web site (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/) in March 2007. It chronicles the involvement of community health workers (CHWs) in the delivery of health services, summarizes the legislative process relative to their integration in the U.S. health care system, provides national and state estimates and describes the skills that employers require for hiring CHWs, the training CHWs need, and the certification programs and career opportunities that are available to them.

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An Annotated Bibliography is available as a companion volume.

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Health Workforce Profiles of Border Counties

A U.S./Mexico Border study was conducted under a two-year contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Professions, Evaluation and Analysis Branch. The study has been made available by the U.S. Government at the HRSA web site ( http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/ ) since June, 2007. County data were used to construct social and health indicators, health profession profiles, and provider-to-population ratios. These indicators describe health status and health disparities prevailing within the Border Counties in the US/Mexico Border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, as defined by the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission. Florida was added to the series of U.S.-Mexico Border reports because Florida is a port of entry and a place of settlement for immigrants entering the United States and bears some similarity to the States that share a border with Mexico.

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Assessing the Health Workforce Disparities in U.S./Mexico Border Region:     A Geographic Information Systems Approach This HRSA-sponsored project addresses health disparities on the US/Mexico Border and produces strategic information for workforce planning, research, and policy. The study builds upon previous research on the supply and distribution of primary care providers and tests, with a group of key administrators of the Departments of Health Services of Texas and New Mexico, user-friendly tools that state and local administrators may use when making decisions on shortage definition and outreach strategies. The method is based on the systemic renditions of spatially related variables in map displays. Relevant factors sensitive to small area differences -- yet independent from traditional administrative boundaries such as counties or other commonly used configurations -- are analyzed using techniques from geographic information sciences. The advantages of multiple factor map displays are that the spatial relationships among the interacting workforce supply and demand factors are seen all at once via the cognitive process of pattern recognition.     Please click the report cover to download.

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Genetic Issues of the Hispanic Border Population

The aims of this study are updating the information on the current state of clinical genetic services for the predominantly Hispanic Texas/Mexico border communities and organizing it in a manner comparable with the national study, “Assessing Genetic Services and the Health Workforce,” just completed at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB); determining the “catchment areas” for the genetics centers of the Texas/Mexico border to identify Border regions with unmet needs, and determining the referral practices of genetics services by non-genetics practitioners in the border regions. The method consists of reorganizing, updating and complementing with telephone interviews and written surveys, existing information collected over several years by the Texas Genetics Network (TEXGENE).

The Border Health Workforce Informatics System Initiative The design and the approach for this project are the result of collaborative activities among RCHWS at CHEP, the U.S./Mexico Border Health Commission, and the HRSA U.S./Mexico Border Field Offices. The US/Mexico Border Health Commission is considering a proposal for a comprehensive Border health informatics system that will include a workforce component to be designed, implemented and maintained by RCHWS/CHEP.

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The Nurse Workforce Data System Biennial RN Survey The Nurse Workforce Data System (NWDS) was created in 1999 to build a permanent information resource for informing policy decisions affecting the nursing profession in the state of Texas. The 2000 and 2002 surveys were effectively used to induce legislative action addressing the nursing shortage. In 2004 New Mexico and Oklahoma were added to the survey. Currently, comparative analyses are being made of the key factors affecting a nurse’s decision to stay in the profession. These include the work environment, the impact of technology, and the inter-personal relationships of nurses with colleagues, supervisors, and the public. The 2006 survey on job satisfaction and career plans of Texas Registered Nurses has just been published and brings the important perspective of these key health professionals in a time of the nursing history that has been called “the perfect storm” – that is, the collision between two simultaneous forces of increasing nurse retirements and increasing demand for nursing services to care for an aging population.

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A definition of the dental workforce for the underserved. This study is a continuing collaboration with the UTHSCSA Hispanic Center of Excellence for Oral Health toward assessing oral health status and determining workforce needs on the Border and in rural areas of Texas.

Changes in the Supply and Distribution of Primary Care Physicians within Market-Defined Areas and Counties of Texas: 1990 to 2000. This project addresses workforce issues using geographic information systems (GIS) methodologies, determining the current geographical distribution of primary care physicians and non-physician clinicians by Primary Care Service Areas across Texas. It also examines changes in the distribution of primary care physicians and non-physician clinicians during the 1990s across all Primary Care Service Areas of Texas relative to changes in population size and characteristics.     Please click the report cover to download.

Aging Health Care Workforce Issues.

In this stand-out volume of the Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Toni Miles and Antonio Furino bring together experts who help readers see the local problem and concern of aging as a global epidemic affecting all areas of the health care workplace. The book was written for administrative leaders and policy-makers who can help make a difference at both local and regional levels. Each chapter: (1) Helps define various problems associated with aging segments of the health care workforce; (2) Illustrates ways in which local aging health care workforce issues affect the global health care workforce; and (3) Presents possible solutions that can be implemented by decision-makers in aging public health care arenas.

Changes in the Scope of Practice and the Supply of Non-Physician Clinicians in Texas.

The report is the result of research conducted in 2002 under a subcontract with the Center for Health Workforce Studies of the State University of New York at Albany.     Please click the report cover to download.

The 2002 RNs’ Career Fulfillment Survey. This project follows and complements the Career Fulfillment Survey of Texas RNs conducted by CHEP in 2000. The purpose of the surveys is monitoring career and retirement plans to inform best practices for attracting and retaining RNs. A first report with findings from the 2002 survey and some comparisons with the preceding survey is being prepared for release. Additional comparative analyses of the data in the two surveys and content analysis of the 2002 write-in comments are in progress.

In 2002 the sampling plan was enhanced in several ways: · sample size increased by more than 1000 RNs. N=3,296 RNs · additional stratification was used to include nurse managers · follow-up procedures increased response rate to 34% The sampling strata were: · supervisory/non-supervisory · employed/not employed in nursing · rural/metropolitan · age cohorts     Please click the report cover to download.

An analysis of changes in the health care workforce in the Texas/Mexico Border Region, 1996/97-2001. This report provides a preliminary demographic profile of workforce mobility and retention in the Border region for six health professions -- physicians, dentists, pharmacists, RNs, advanced practice nurses, and physician assistants.

Health and Nurses in Texas – The Future of Nursing: Data for Action. The first report of the Texas Nurse Workforce Data System was created through a partnership with the Texas Nurses Association (TNA) and the Texas Institute for Health Policy Research of the Texas Hospital Association (THA). The report included the findings of The 2000 RNs’ Career Fulfillment Survey, the first comprehensive nurses’ survey in the State, and studies on the supply of registered nurses, employers of RNs, and the capacity of the State educational system.