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Center for Health Workforce Studies, University of Washington
from HWRCs' Annual Report
by UAlbany
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The University of Washington Center for Health Workforce Studies (UW CHWS) was established in 1998 with funding from HRSA. It is based in the Research Section of the Department of Family Medicine, part of the University of Washington School of Medicine. UW CHWS houses 2 of 9 Health Workforce Research Centers (HWRCs) across the US funded by the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis at HRSA. Each HWRC focuses on a specifi c aspect of the health workforce. UW’s HWRCs are addressing 1) the allied health workforce and 2) health equity and health workforce diversity.
The Allied Health HWRC is dedicated to research on trained professionals, other than registered nurses or physician assistants, who share “in the responsibility for the delivery of healthcare services or related services, including services relating to the identifi cation, evaluation, and prevention of disease and disorders, dietary and nutrition services, health promotion services, rehabilitation services, or health systems management services.”
The Health Equity HWRC focuses on the health workforce’s role in promoting health equity by delivering culturally and linguistically competent care to reduce health disparities among a population diverse on a number of dimensions (eg, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, geography, socioeconomic status, disability status, language, and age) and partnering with communities to promote population health.
To ensure a robust and diverse health workforce in the future, our research shows that we need to invest in our healthcare workers, particularly those in ‘low-skilled’ jobs, articulate the long-term healthcare career opportunities, and value these individuals appropriately for their hard work.
