Allied Health Professionals Experience of Supervising Allied Health Assistants. A Mixed Method Study.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to quantify time spent by allied health professionals in allied health assistant supervision and to explore allied health assistant supervision from an allied health professional perspective. Method: A convergent parallel mixed method design was used. Forty-seven allied health professionals were surveyed, and 18 allied health professionals participated in focus groups, providing different but complementary data with the aim of gaining a more complete understanding of allied health assistant supervision load. Results: Allied health professionals report spending 10% of their workday supervising allied health assistants. Descriptive interpretation of the focus group data presents evidence that allied health professionals in this local health district lacked knowledge of allied health assistant training, skills, and roles, and that this gap in understanding affected their ability to supervise and delegate to allied health assistants. Conclusion: The findings were found to support improving knowledge and skills of allied health professionals relating to supervision of allied health assistants

Is there a seasonal variation in HbA1c in Australia?

BackgroundA recent publication has shown that the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) diagnosed with a glucose tolerance test (GTT) has a significant seasonal variation. The HbA1c has been proposed as an alternate method for testing of GDM.AimsNumerous reports indicate that in the Northern Hemisphere the HbA1c is higher in winter. The aim of this study was to assess if there was a seasonal variation in the HbA1c in a temperate climate.Methods Southern IML Pathology (SIML) is the major provider of pathology services in Wollongong and surrounding areas. De-identified data were obtained from SIML from January 2011 to December 2015. The data included the date of collection, date of birth, gender and HbA1c.Results A total of 203,170 HbA1c results were available for analysis. The median HbA1c was 6.6 per cent (48mmol/mol) for each season. While these differences were statistically significant (due to the large numbers used for analysis), it was felt unlikely to be of clinical significance. There was also no difference in the median HbA1c in females with HbA1c ≤6.0 per cent; the probable range during pregnancy.ConclusionWhereas in the Northern hemisphere the HbA1c does exhibit seasonal variation, this was not apparent in a temperate climate. Specific data are required during pregnancy. HbA1c could be considered as an alternative diagnostic test during pregnancy to potentially overcome the changes in prevalence with seasons with GTT