By Jackie Miller

By Lisel Blash, MPA

After losing his job in the corporate sector, Josh was homeless and in and out of jail for several years. “Until I had my diagnosis; I thought everyone heard voices,” he said. The realization that he had a mental illness made Josh take action. After seeking treatment, he volunteered for homeless shelters and soup kitchens because he “wanted to give back.”

By Jackie Miller

CHCF Health Care Leadership Program fellow Sergio Camarillo, MBA, MS, RN, decided he wanted to be a physical therapist after he learned about the profession at a career day in high school. While taking prerequisite courses for physical therapy in college, he became friends with a man who planned a career in a different health care field: Nursing.

“At the time, that struck me as odd because I saw nursing as a predominately female profession,” Camarillo said.

Demand for health care professionals with expertise in long-term care (LTC) is rising, due to projected growth in the older population and the increasing burden of chronic disease. One way to meet this growing LTC workforce demand may be to employ more nurse practitioners (NPs) and/or physician assistants (PAs).

Healthforce Center Associate Director of Research Joanne Spetz, PhD, was interviewed for a nursing website (onlinefnpprograms.com) about her research on policies, politics and nursing practice that affect nursing leaders across the country. Below are excerpts from that conversation.

By Jackie Miller

As a community health worker (CHW) at Care Connections Program in Los Angeles County, Walfred Lopez acts as a liaison between patients and medical professionals to help people find resources and overcome challenges related to chronic conditions. He’s part of a growing movement of CHWs who joined together on June 19 for Healthforce Center at UCSF’s event that introduced Walfred to a broader picture of the CHW landscape.

“It’s a complete movement, and there are a lot of people involved. I can see the bigger picture now,” he said.

An independent study by Healthforce Center at UCSF has shown that California’s community paramedicine pilot projects have improved patient well-being and generated savings for insurers and hospitals.

As the health care system continues to undergo rapid change, the nature of nurses’ roles are changing as well, according to Healthforce Center faculty research. As the largest licensed health professional group in the US, nurses are four times more prevalent than physicians. They practice in nearly every setting of the health care system and many are poised to take on leadership roles.