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How to Write and Submit Articles to AHP Workforce

 

AHP Workforce is a subsidiary of the HealthWork International group of companies. We provide information, resources, and advice to help allied health workforce, managers, employers and policy makers respond to the changing dynamics of the 21st Century health care environment.

We strive to provide the best, evidence informed approaches to driving practice changes in allied health, to support allied health professionals from all disciplines, creating a community for sharing ideas and opportunities to network with colleagues in other professions, roles and countries. Your contributed article will support this vision.

We welcome contributions from allied health professionals (AHPs) or people who write on topics that are relevant to AHPs. We have pulled together a few tips to help you get started. We have a professional editor, so please do not feel that you have to get your content perfect before you submit it to us.

1. Know Your Audience

Research the types of people who will be reading your article. This will help you to write in a tone that they will appreciate.

  •  Identify who you are trying to reach and who you’re reaching already – who are your readers?
  • Understand your readers and what is meaningful to them – what do your readers need?
  • How will they change as a result of reading your article?
  • Focus how you can best communicate with and serve your readers

Your tone, voice and approach will differ, depending on who you’re writing for. E.g. Are you writing an article for an audience of physiotherapists, or an audience of physiotherapist employers?

Be as specific as possible about identifying your audience.

Below are some general AHP Workforce readership identifiers to get you started:

Who are our readers?

At AHP Workforce our readers include

  • Allied Health professionals
  • Allied Health academics and researchers
  • Allied Health managers
  • Allied Health executives
  • Senior Allied Health professionals with leadership roles
  • Managers and executives of organisations who employ Allied Health Professionals

Sources of Information – our readership finds their information from the evidence base, blogs like ours, courses, conferences and potentially professional or association newsletters/circulars.

Demographic Info  – our current readership is predominantly female, mostly aged between 35 and 65. They mostly live in rural and metro Australia, NZ and the UK but we have readers in the USA, UK Singapore, Hong Kong and Ireland. They work for public health, not for profit and for profit organisations in aged care, disability, education, health and social care.

Please write for an international and interdisciplinary audience as far as possible.

Some of the current issues faced by our readership include:

  • Long waiting lists for their services
  • Frustrated, demoralised staff
  • Professional burnout
  • Staff leaving their jobs and their profession
  • Business or organisation can’t grow
  • No responses to their job advertisements
  • They feel passionately about the fact that individuals and communities they serve are missing out on vital services that will improve their quality of life
  • They don’t know where they need to start to influence the above issues.

 

2. Plan and structure your article

Identify the purpose of your article. Are you solving a problem resolving an issue for your audience segment? (See above). Identifying the purpose of your article from the outset will help you pitch your message in a way that will add value to your audience.

For example, if you’re solving a problem, your article will need to specify how you’re approaching it, offer examples, and conclude with a clear solution.

Your blog needs to leave an impact on people. Try and think about how you want your readers to feel after they have read your blog.

Most readers are time-poor—consider arranging your ideas into a series of clearly-defined topics.

Map out the structure of your article with a view to influencing your readers; order your topics in a way that ensures a logical flow of ideas.

A topic is an H2 heading. There are a few ways of formatting your topics.

  • Plainly and logically.
  • Numbered. An article titled 10 Ways AI Is Changing Our Understanding Of Diagnostic Imaging would have numbered H2 headings.
  • You could arrange your topic headings as queries. An article about Osteopathy could include this topic header: Are there postgraduate requirements for osteopaths?

Also realise that your work will be more widely read the more you improve your topic naming and structure, as Google will find it easier to match your article to reader searches.

3. Voice and Tone

Your readers will typically be on public transport or on a break at work; you’ll really only have their attention for a few minutes—a plain, clear, conversational tone wins every time.

We’re after a tone that is both engaging and conversational. You need to convey a confidence in your topic; be knowledgeable and informed, but express this simply and warmly.

(Don’t worry—while adhering to this standard, your inner voice and style will still shine through the article.)

4. Length

We will accept articles up to 1200 words, but the golden word count is 750. As stated, your reader may only have 5 minutes to give you. A talented or experienced writer can say something meaningful and influential in 750 words or less. No dissertations, please!

5. Blog structure cheat sheet

Here’s a workflow to get you started

Start your whole blog with a single question around your readers’ key pain point (See: Issues faced by our readership)

E.g.

Do you struggle with high levels of job vacancies/high staff turnover/inability to affect change in your organisation etc?

 

Now write a sentence that describes who this article is written for that describes some of the problem you are addressing.

E.g.

This article is written for managers who struggle to find ways to recruit to their AH roles.

 

Then write a 2-3 paragraphs describing the problem and the impact of the problem – your reader’s pain points.

E.g.

Problem + impact

Problem + impact

Problem + impact

Write a short paragraph about where your solutions to these problems have come from. Where possible provide references or hyperlinks to your research within this section. Make sure the hyperlinks are to the journal itself.

E.g.

My research with managers and leaders in allied heatlh over the last decade …

We conducted a systematic review …

We undertook a series of interviews …

Then write your SOLUTIONS or FINDINGS to these problems and pain points. One heading and one short paragraph per solution.

E.g.

Solution 1

Solution 2

Solution 3

Solution 4

Finally, write your CONCLUSION. This should be 2-3 sentences that summarise the problem and impact of the problem and how your solutions can help the reader. Usually it is good to finish your blog with a call to action – what are they going to do in response to your suggestions?

Disclaimer and copyright

By submitting photographs, materials, images, information, or other documents (‘Information’) you consent to us and our related entities, publishing such Information on a range of social media, websites, newsletters and through or on any other traditional media sources.  You agree that we may record, hold, store and use the Information for a range of initiatives, including for public relations, promotion, advertising, recruitment, presentations, publications, displays, media, promotional, marketing, communications, and commercial activities (‘Activities’).  You grant us a licence to use the Information for any Activities.  You agree that the Information may not identify or be attributed to you, may be replicated in full, not reproduced in its entirety, modified for purpose, or blended with other information.  This includes copyright material, including written, artistic, or recorded work.

Please send your completed article, with images to [email protected]