What is the Allied Health Section?
The Allied Health Section is a collection of information, tools and resources developed to form a hub of knowledge. It is designed to support allied health professionals working in any setting looking after a patient who has palliative care needs.
Background to the Allied Health Section Project
CareSearch recognises that palliative care is provided by different health professionals in different settings however, allied health practitioners are often overlooked as palliative care team members. The need for an area with specific information and resources for this group of health professionals was raised within the Knowledge Network Management Group and the CareSearch National Advisory Group.
Defining Allied Health
When considering the future of allied health information on CareSearch, it was proposed that we look to definitions of allied health (what constitutes an allied health professional?). Information was sourced from Allied Health Professions Australia, the International Centre for Allied Health Evidence, the Commonwealth Medicare Allied Health Initiative and the Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH). There appeared to be little consistency in their inclusion criteria. However, this preliminary scoping exercise demonstrated that there is a core group of allied health professionals in palliative care for whom the hub would be targeted: psychologists, dietitians, social workers, occupational therapists, speech therapists and physiotherapists.
Advisory Group
A small working group comprising allied health professionals working in the six disciplines assisted in planning the content and development of the Allied Health Hub framework. The CareSearch team was responsible for the searches for background literature, finalisation of page content, development of web pages and preparation of promotional materials.
Many allied health professionals formally reviewed the content. The contribution of the many people to the development of the Allied Health Hub is recognised in the
Acknowledgements 2013 page.
Allied Health Hub Launch
The Allied Health Hub was launched on 4th September 2013 at the Palliative Care Australia conference by Lin Oke, Executive Officer of Allied Health Professions Australia.
You can view the launch video here.
Last updated 23 January 2017