title: Enumerating the preventive youth health care workforce: Size, composition and regional variation in the Netherlands.
abstract: The progress in workforce planning in preventive youth health care (YHC) is hampered by a lack of data on the current workforce. This study aimed to enumerate the Dutch YHC workforce. To understand regional variations in workforce capacity we compared these with the workforce capacity and the number of children and indicators of YHC need per region. A national survey was conducted using online questionnaires based on WHO essential public health operations among all YHC workers. Respondents (n=3220) were recruited through organisations involved in YHC (participation: 88%). The YHC workforce is multi-disciplinary, 62% had >10 years working experience within YHC and only small regional variations in composition existed. The number of children per YHC professional varied between regions (range 688-1007). All essential public health operations were provided and could be clustered in an operational or policy profile. The operational profile prevailed in all regions. Regional differences in the number of children per YHC professional were unrelated to the indicators of YHC need. The essential public health operations provided by the YHC workforce and the regional variations in children per YHC professional were not in line with indicators of YHC needs, indicating room for improvement of YHC workforce planning. The methodology applied in this study is probably relevant for use in other countries.
authors.affiliation: Academic Medical Center, Department of Public Health, J2, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.jambroes@amc.nl.
authors.forename: Marielle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jambroes
authors.affiliation: Academic Medical Center, Department of Public Health, J2, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.lamkaddem@amc.nl.
authors.forename: Majda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lamkaddem
authors.affiliation: Academic Medical Center, Department of Public Health, J2, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: k.stronks@amc.nl.
authors.forename: Karien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stronks
authors.affiliation: Academic Medical Center, Department of Public Health, J2, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.l.essink-bot@amc.nl.
authors.forename: Marie-Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Essink-Bot
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006285:Health Planning; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D011634:Public Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Essential public health operations; Health human resource planning; Preventive youth health care; Public health; The Netherlands; Workforce planning