Planning the Future Oral Health Workforce: A Rapid Review of Supply, Demand and Need Models, Data Sources and Skill Mix Considerations

Madhan Balasubramanian, Aliya Hasan, Suruchi Ganbavale, Anfal Alolayah and Jennifer Gallagher
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Madhan Balasubramanian: Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia
Aliya Hasan: Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Kings College London, London SE5 9RS, UK
Suruchi Ganbavale: Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Kings College London, London SE5 9RS, UK
Anfal Alolayah: Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Kings College London, London SE5 9RS, UK
Jennifer Gallagher: Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Kings College London, London SE5 9RS, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-33

Abstract: Over the last decade, there has been a renewed interest in oral health workforce planning. The purpose of this review is to examine oral health workforce planning models on supply, demand and needs, mainly in respect to their data sources, modelling technique and use of skill mix. A limited search was carried out on PubMed and Web of Science for published scientific articles on oral health workforce planning models between 2010 to 2020. No restrictions were placed on the type of modelling philosophy, and all studies including supply, demand or needs based models were included. Rapid review methods guided the review process. Twenty-three studies from 15 countries were included in the review. A majority were from high-income countries ( n = 17). Dentists were the sole oral health workforce group modelled in 13 studies; only five studies included skill mix (allied dental personnel) considerations. The most common application of modelling was a workforce to population ratio or a needs-based demand weighted variant. Nearly all studies presented weaknesses in modelling process due to the limitations in data sources and/or non-availability of the necessary data to inform oral health workforce planning. Skill mix considerations in planning models were also limited to horizontal integration within oral health professionals. Planning for the future oral health workforce is heavily reliant on quality data being available for supply, demand and needs models. Integrated methodologies that expand skill mix considerations and account for uncertainty are essential for future planning exercises.

Keywords: health workforce; operational models; planning; skill mix; integration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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