title: Impact and feasibility of the Allied Health Professional Enhancement Program placements - experiences from rural and remote Queensland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Allied health professionals practicing in rural and remote areas are often faced with barriers that prevent them from accessing professional development opportunities. In order to address this barrier, a tailored professional development program was developed and implemented by the Cunningham Centre in Queensland, Australia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of the program to participants and their work units.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used a concurrent mixed methods longitudinal design to investigate the medium- to long-term benefits of one Allied Health Professional Enhancement Program placement. Surveys and individual interviews provided data at 2 weeks and at 6 months post-placement. The study participants included the placement participant (a physiotherapist), their line manager, clinical supervisor, and the placement facilitator.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results demonstrated that the placement resulted in various reported benefits to the placement participant, as well as to service delivery in their home location. Benefits of the placement reported by the participant included increased confidence, improved knowledge and skills, increased access to professional networks, and validation of practice. Benefits to service delivery reported included improved efficiencies, improved patient outcomes, and positive impact on other team members.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study found that the Allied Health Professional Enhancement Program placement investigated was beneficial to the participant and to service delivery. In addition, the benefits reported were sustained at 6 months post-placement. Despite the fact that this study showcases experiences from one setting, the findings from this study and the lessons learnt may be transferrable to other similar programs elsewhere due to its methodological strengths (such as rich descriptions of the program and use of typical case sampling). While this study provides emergent evidence of usefulness of the program to participants and their work units, further studies are warranted to investigate the direct benefits of such placements on patient care, which remains as the holy grail of the impact of professional development opportunities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Allied Health Professional Enhancement Program placements can result in important benefits to the participant, their health service, and positively influence health care service delivery.
authors.affiliation: Allied Health Education and Training, Cunningham Centre, Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia; International Centre for Allied Health Evidence (iCAHE), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Priya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Allied Health Evidence (iCAHE), School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Saravana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Allied Health Education and Training, Cunningham Centre, Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.affiliation: Allied Health Education and Training, Cunningham Centre, Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: LuJuana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Abernathy
authors.affiliation: Allied Health Education and Training, Cunningham Centre, Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Burge
authors.affiliation: Joanna Briggs Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
authors.forename: Lucylynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lizarondo
keywords: allied health; placements; professional development; remote; rural