Developing competencies for remote and rural senior allied health professionals in Western Australia

Abstract

Competency frameworks are an increasingly popular clinical governance, performance management, and professional development tool in health care. However, to date there is a dearth of information relating to competencies for allied health professionals (AHPs) working in remote and rural environments. This project aimed to develop a competency framework for senior level AHPs across a core of allied health professions in remote and rural Western Australia. The framework was designed to be used by individual AHPs to identify areas of professional proficiency and weakness, by staff managing senior AHPs when undertaking performance development processes, and by an organisation to identify common areas of need among disciplines that can be addressed through targeted support strategies.