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Allied Health Insights Vol. 2, No.1: New Year’s Resolutions, Paramedics and Positive Intent

Welcome to the first edition of Allied Health Insights for 2023, the Year of the Rabbit: let’s be earnest in what we do, and treat others the way we would like to be treated. Have those New Year’s resolutions have survived the first ten days of January intact? (If not, don’t sweat it—think of them as a guide to better living.) Rather than New Year’s resolutions (or perhaps in spite of them?) we believe that high up on everyone’s list for this year should be self-care and striving for work-life balance.

Paramedic Bianca Jackson certainly had her work-life balance tested during the last three years—she tells us how she was able to stay positive on the frontlines of the COVID pandemic, and the support structures that she and her colleagues found most useful.

On the self-care front, we have some tips for time-poor AHPs. During the years of the COVID pandemic, one thing that so many allied health professionals didn’t have time to contemplate was self-care. Self-care is central to maintaining physical and mental well-being, and it is especially important for AHPs with demanding schedules and caseloads at capacity. We have five freely available, simple tips for those of us who are time-poor and habitually invested in caring for others before ourselves.

And for our A to Z of Allied Health, we’re putting in an emergency call to the paramedic profession. Paramedics have successfully reinvented themselves from “stretcher bearers to practitioners” in a relatively short space of time. Increasingly, access to cutting-edge technology means that paramedics undertake sophisticated remote diagnostic testing and deliver life-saving interventions in patients’ homes and the community.

During COVID-19, paramedics, in partnership with multidisciplinary allied health teams, successfully triaged patients to prevent avoidable hospital admissions, and they continue to play a critical role in front-line decision making and triage that can determine the outcomes for the patient and the healthcare system.

Useful Links

The AHP Playlist

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Paramedicine and how Allied Health can support paramedics | The Debrief Paramedic Podcast

Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Dr Martin Chadwick sits down with one of our Aotearoa New Zealand committee members Stuart Cook to discuss Martin’s views on Paramedicine and how he can support paramedics within Aotearoa from his role within Manatū Hauora – Ministry of Health.

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Burnout Prevention and Interventions- Expert Insights for Health Professionals | Black Dog Institute Mental Health Podcast Series

Ways to recognise, prevent, and manage burnout have been on the minds of many health professionals, particularly over the past few years. Join psychologists Sarah Barker and Jodie Wassner as they discuss how health professionals can prevent burnout, useful tips for coping with ever-increasing workplace demands, and practical interventions for managing burnout amongst health professionals.

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AHP Research & Resources

A time for self-care? Frontline health workers’ strategies for managing mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

“Findings reveal how healthcare workers sought to adjust to disruption by adopting new self-care practices and mindsets, while encountering numerous personal and professional struggles that undermined their capacity for self-care.”—Lewis, Willis, Bismark, Smallwood, BSSM – Mental Health, Volume 2, 2022

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Allied health front-line manager perceptions of factors impacting workplace morale and burnout risk

“This exploratory case study investigated the factors impacting employee morale and burnout risk among allied health professionals operating within a large Australian public hospital.”—Turato, Whiteoak, Oprescu, J Health Organ Manag. 2022 Jun 22

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