Spotlight articles

Every artist was first an amateur*: The profession of caring redefined

The health care workforce is changing. In countries like the UK over the past thirty years, there has been greater use of support staff who are not necessarily professionally qualified but who undertake care responsibilities that are delegated to them.

While formal health care has always coexisted with – indeed, worked in close harmony with – a voluntary sector, the role played by the latter (be they charity providers or personal carers) looks set to grow. In many countries in the world, of course, the voluntary provision outstrips that which is provided by government. Partly, this change is recognition that care is not the exclusive preserve of the professions.

However, there is also the fact that the fiscal crisis of the state is impacting on what can be offered out of the public purse. In the UK, the Conservation-Liberal Democrat coalition government, in office since May 2010, speaks of encouraging the development of a self-supporting and volunteer-led “Big Society.” In his closing keynote speech, Mark Cole will take a view of what these changes means for the health care professions at large with particular emphasis on the preparatory education and continuing professional development (CPD) that such occupational groups provide.

Engaging with his audience and offering a range of provocative opinions designed to send the conference away with as much food for thought as possible, he will outline what he feels the role of those professions should become in light of this changing landscape; in particular, he will look at the contributions that they can – and should – be making in regard to three key themes, namely, knowledge, professionalism and innovation.

* Ralph Waldo Emerson