Leadership in Allied Health: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Background: It is well established that effective clinical leadership improves the quality of healthcare service provision and promotes leadership outcomes. [1,2] Leadership capacity and capability of allied health professionals is needed for successful clinical service provision, [3] but less is known about allied health leadership than about other clinical groups.
 Aims: The literature review aimed to identify research about leadership and leadership development of allied health practitioners in healthcare settings.
 Methods: A database review was undertaken using SCOPUS, CINAHL, Medline and Business Elite databases from December 2014-September 2015. Three leadership journals were also hand searched. A total of 1665 articles were identified. These were scanned and 129 articles were retrieved with 70 articles shortlisted for indepth review.
 Results: After application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, seven journal articles were included in the literature review. Review of the studies identified two areas of primary focus: leadership styles and outcomesand leadership development programs.
 Conclusions: Findings showed that there are currently a limited number of robust published reports in relation to leadership and allied health practitioners. Implications for Practice: Well-designed research studies to further evaluate leadership skills of allied health practitioners as well as to determine the effectiveness of leadership programs in developing transformational leaders are required.
 Abbreviations: CASP – Clinical Appraisal Skills Program; NHMRC – National Health and Medical Research Council.

What Are the Client, Organisational and Employee-Related Outcomes of High Quality Leadership in the Allied Health Professions? A scoping review.

“…There is a dearth of literature on AHP leadership in peer reviewed publications and research about AHP is complicated by the varying definitions and diversity in the AHP workforce. [7,9,10] Additionally, outcome is an allencompassing term that needed to be refined. In order to narrow the search, the term 'outcome' was refined to include three key areas; client, organisation and employee.…”

“…Previous research with a search period from 1980-2017 has identified a dearth of outcome studies pertaining to AHP leaders. [9,11,15] A similar search parameter for this study would likely yield similar results, thus a more recent time period was chosen to identify newer studies. To be included articles needed to be written in English and include the Therapists.…”

“…There are calls within the profession for more AHP leaders and greater visibility for the outcomes of AHP leaders. [7,[9][10][11].…”

The Future of Allied Health leadership in New Zealand-Aotearoa: A literature review

“…[18,[30][31][32][33][34] identifies a connection between successful health outcomes and effective allied health leadership. [4,18] According to Markham [2] allied health is 'front seat' to lead changes in health system using leadership, workforce model changes and a focus on prevention and early intervention. Mickan, Dawber [20]'s study reported executives described allied health leaders as 'influential' in the development of new models of care, using collaborative models of service delivery 'adding value' to business and improved outcomes for consumers.…”

“…[1][2][3] Establishing effective leadership in healthcare across services, systems and the workforce, is key to supporting the provision of high-quality treatment, optimal results and the ongoing development of consumer-focused services. [1,[4][5][6] As healthcare continues to evolve in response to population diversity, digital technology development and health need, it is suggested the recruitment of the most effective leadership possible is a logical objective. New Zealand's allied health, scientific and technical collective of professions is a significant proportion of the health workforce.…”