Making connections for sustainable health systems: Professionalism and health human resource policies

Ellen Kuhlmann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

Abstract

Recent European and international initiatives have brought the significance of health human resources under the spotlight of public health. ‘All for health workers’, as the Kampala Declaration stated, indicates a paradigm shift in health policy, yet no comprehensive model of human resource management exists. Here, theories and research from the realm of sociology of professions can fill a gap and help to better understand the opportunities for, and barriers to the development and implementation of more integrated and sustainable policies. By placing professions in the wider context of ‘modernization’ as a sociological phenomenon, it can be argued that professionalism embodies both challenges to public health and a potential for innovating health-care systems. Drawing on data from research in Germany and secondary sources of cross-country comparison, the transformative potential of professionalism and strategic use of managerial governance in professional action and clinical practice; and the institutional conditions that may further a more inclusive professionalism and collaborative care will be shown. The article concludes by highlighting the benefits of connecting professionalism and health human resource policies and how this may contribute to sustainable health systems for all citizens.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)123
Number of pages1
JournalEuropean Journal of Public Health
Volume20
Issue numberSupplement 1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2010
Event3rd European Public Health Conference Integrated Public Health - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Duration: 10 Nov 201013 Nov 2010

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